Black and White
by ISpeakBraile
Summary: Samantha White: Impatient, cynical, incessantly sarcastic, strongwilled, incredibly bright. Sirius Black: Charming, witty, egotistical, stubborn, unnervingly sharp. Warning: this is my first fanfic ever. Extreme Mary Sue-ness ahead. Proceed with caution. Abandoned.
1. Dead and Gone

**A/N: **Okay, so a few people seem to be confused as to what's going on, so I'm going to go ahead and clarify a few things. Samantha (the OC) is a transfer student from Andromeda's All-Girls Preparatory - a school you'll learn more about in the next chapter. She's going into her seventh year at Hogwarts, and she transferred because her other school was, well... you'll see by the fourth chapter. Anyway, I think the rest should be clear enough in the story, so... vini vidi vici. (That made no sense.)

**BLACK AND WHITE**

Dead and Gone

_Ages. This blasted car's taking ruddy ages. _

Samantha White knew her patience was sorely waning, dwindling further and further with each trying second. She crossed her arms in a rather poor attempt to control her skittish fidgeting, but within moments her foot began tapping incessantly.

_Merlin, exactly how far away is this place? It's been what, a few decades since we left?_

She sighed irritably, not particularly pleased by being imprisoned in the rather curious looking method of transportation she'd come to know as a car. Sure, she knew London was quite a ways away from her distant home in southern England, but that didn't prepare her easily tried patience for being strapped into a car for four hours.

Her snappy mood wasn't exactly appeased by the idea of arriving late to her destination, either. _Not on my bloody first day._

Sighing crossly, she shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat, tugging irritably at the strange strap pinning her down. _These are bloody well fit for Azkaban_, she thought, grimacing down at her "seat belt", as her mother had called it. _Such a creative name, too, must've taken centuries to dream up..._

"Remind me again why we couldn't just apparate?" she called somewhat childishly for what must have been the seventy-fifth time to the front seat of the sleek, ebony muggle car they were currently situated in. Her middle-aged mother sighed exaperatedly upon hearing the question yet again, blowing a strand of slightly graying black hair out of her sharp-featured face.

"Because, Samantha, for the hundreth ruddy time, Shelby's much too young for that," she replied somewhat crossly, briefly smiling fondly at the nightmare in pigtails bouncing happily next to her. The moronic blonde responded with a small, satanic smile of her own, innocence enshrouding her devilish eyes.

_That guiltless act is pathetic,_ Samantha thought aggravatedly, plastering a fake, mocking smile on her face as Shelby sent her a murderous look of contempt.

"Besides," her mother chirped cheerily as Shelby scoffed and swiveled about, making a wry, satisfied smirk spread across Samantha's lips, "it's such a lovely day out. We'd miss it entirely if we just apparated."

Samantha scoffed derisively. "So it's either miss the train if we don't apparate, or miss the stupid day if we do. I'm glad to see our priorities are in such splendid order."

Her mother exhaled crossly at her daughter's sarcasm, meeting her blazing blue eyes through the rectangular rear-view mirror with a reproving expression. "Can we drop the cyncism for five minutes, please? Besides, once again, Shelby's too young to apparate—"

"But what abou—"

"—or side-long apparate, it's a terrible experience," she finished sternly before Samantha could voice her indignant protest, silencing her with a carefully raised brow.

Sighing in annoyed defeat, Samantha slid back into the constricting seat, letting her head sink into the thick, leather fabric with a muffled _thud_. She briefly glanced out the thick glass of the window, flinching as the brilliant sunlight met her unadjusted eyes. _Blinding isn't exactly my idea of lovely, in all honesty._

She averted her eyes quickly, exhaling grumpily as varying splotches of white swam across her vision. She was quite accostumed to disagreeing with the average person about what classified a beautiful day, for she'd always preferred the cool, dreary feeling of impending rain. Like most people, she found the rain to have soothing qualities, yet what appealed to her the most was how oddly exhilarating it was to her.

It gave her a certain adrenaline rush she couldn't quite explain. Like whenever she was playing a rough, physically trying match of soccer, or if she was simply in the most lethargic, disgustingly lazy mood, the invigorating sensation of icy rain against her skin instantly filled her with buzzing electricity. _I wish it was raining no—_

A jubilant shriek pierced through her muddled thoughts, sending a throbbing pang through her head. She scowled pointedly, sweeping her gaze over to the blonde haired terror hopping about excitedly, staring at Samantha with eyes full of fiery maliciousness.

"Oh, I'm sorry, _Sammy_, did I scare you?" she cooed innocently, pouting her lips into a guitless look of pity.

"No, not particularly, _Shelbs_, believe it or not I'm used to your face," she responded dismissively, not the least bit interested in quarelling with the idiotic twit yet again.

"_Ha, ha,_" Shelby retorted rather dimly, rolling her round eyes briefly before swiveling about in a huff.

_Such a brilliant addition to the family, that one,_ Samantha thought sarcastically, staring at the rather ridiculous-looking girl with predominant disdain.

Shelby, Samantha's pink clad step-sister, was a twelve year old version of hell, at least in Samantha's opinion. She was sickeningly spoiled, obnoxious beyond belief, painfully loud—as was previously exemplified—and in essence, Samantha's polar opposite.

She had short, curly blonde hair that had seen so many dyes and curling irons in its short lifetime that it was rather brassy and unappealing, while Samantha had straight black locks flowing down to her waist that possessed a luminous shine from lack of exposure to hot tools and products.

Shelby's eyes were a dull brown, at least in their natural state, for now they were concealed under baby blue colored contacts, while Samantha's were a rather remarkable turquoise that seemed to correspond accordingly with her mood.

Shelby was a lump of a girl, short and somewhat pudgy with an upturned nose and squat features, while Samantha stood rather tall at five foot eight, with a slim, athletic build from many years of intense soccer, and had rather sharp features that gave her a certain intensity.

The only thing the two shared, besides a strong hate for one another, was stubbornness without relent. They openly spoke their minds whenever they felt the need to be heard, though in Shelby's case, it was more often for attention than for the justification of an opinion.

Though they both had rather snappy attitudes, Shelby relied on immature name calling and pure snootiness while Samantha rested better with shrewd sarcasm. In the end, it was usually some scathing, hair-curling remark from Samantha that would effectively outsmart Shelby, though the whiny pre-teen never lost silently. She would whine and scream rather dim-witted insults over her shoulder as she pitched a fit, while Samantha would simply smirk darkly at her obvious triumph.

Bottom line: the two girls weren't exactly best friends.

Samantha lazily blew an obstructing strand of glossy black out of her eyes, wriggling against the imprisoning seat belt that she swore was trying to eat her in some way, shape, or form. "Remind me again why it had to come with us?"

She glanced at Shelby indicatively, who smiled sweetly—and rather demonically— at her mother before turning around and sticking her tongue out at Samantha. _Maturity personified, she is..._

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Samantha, your sister—"

"_Step-sister_," Samantha snapped indignantly, nauseated by the idea of actually being related to the snotty monster.

"Step-sister, then," her mother corrected snappishly, "is not an 'it'! And _she_ came with us because she loves you and wants to see you off on your big day." She nodded firmly after a moment, as if to try and convince herself that that wasn't complete rubbish. Shelby grinned wickedly from beside her, her chubby cheeks glowing with an all-too angelic expression.

Samantha grimaced. "That's touching, it really is, but Shelbs, next time you want to make me happy, just jump into the nearest body of water and don't come up." She smirked wickedly at the angry expression that overcame Shelby's face, contorting it to make it look even more pig-like than usual, before groaning tortuously as she heard her mother's outraged scolding.

"Samantha Gabrielle White!" _The full name technique, how boringly cliché._ "I cannot believe you would even joke about a loved one—" _Hah, loved one_… "—in such a vulgar way! You've really sunken to a new…" and the rest went unknown, for Samantha had finally spotted King's Cross Station in the distance and the welcome feeling of relief overcame her restlessness. _Thank the god of something or other!_

She sighed in relief and hastily agreed to whatever it was her mother was saying, apologizing distractedly and mumbling a few 'nope, never again's just to ensure she wouldn't end up on the wrong foot with her mother before leaving her for a year. _As for Shelby, I can only pray she takes my pool advice. Stupid little prat_…

The car came to a rather ungraceful stop in front of the station, seeing as her mother had floored the brakes thinking it was right in all of her inexperience with cars. Samantha threw the car door open hastily, lunging herself toward the freedom of the outdoors—except that her seatbelt was a bit reluctant of letting her do so, since she'd forgotten she'd had it on.

She cursed loudly, though thankfully quietly enough to not be heard by her mother, who was twiddling with Samantha's trunks in the back of the car. She heard a wicked snicker sound from around her and looked up angrily, ready to lash out at Shelby, only to find her staring out the window with her mouth hanging slightly open, apparently entranced.

Samantha wrinkled her nose in confusion, a habit she'd developed from the young age of four, before glancing out of her own window to find the source of both the laughter and Shelby's fascination. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing coldly at the boy standing a few feet a way from her.

He looked about her age, with slightly long, silky black hair that fell over his eyes, achieving a look of sophistication and elegance that his dark, mischievous eyes complemented well. He was olive-skinned with a smooth complexion and muscular body, athletic, no doubt.

One could easily describe him as devilishly handsome, as he looked the part with the black shirt and jeans, and of course the wicked grin that told you he was up to something—undoubtedly no good. At the moment he was staring at Samantha with a charmingly sly smirk that was really hitting a nerve, especially since it was one she often used herself.

Her glare hardened. "I'm glad you found that so entertaining, Mr.—?"

"Black," the boy said smoothly, the same irritating smirk still playing at his lips. "Sirius Black."

"Right, Mr. Black," she stated dryly, azure eyes darkening, "but if you don't mind, I have more important things to do than amusing rude gits like you."

The wry, twisted smirk faltered slightly, and a wave of slight surprise washed over his sparkling grey eyes. He peered at her closely for a minute, as if she was some sort of exotic species, and her skin prickled with irritation. "Last time I checked, I wasn't a zoo exhibit."

His brow furrowed slightly with confusion, though his wicked smirk slowly resurfaced on his lips. "And you are, love?" he asked, the puzzled grin morphing itself into a suggestive sort of half-smile. _What, is he trying to charm me now? Sleazy git..._

"Most definitely not interested," she replied curtly, looking away with a disgruntled grimace and gathering the book strewn upon the car seat. She thought that a good, classic novel would be the perfect way to pass the ungodly span of the trip, but lo and behold—car sickness came into play.

Rolling her eyes irritably, she stashed the book into her large canvas bag, mentally cursing all things automobile-related. She glanced back out of the window, thinking the boy would surely be gone, only to encounter the same, stormy grey eyes eyeing her curiously. They truly were a rather haunting shade of charcoal, and for a moment her scowl seemed to soften slightly.

Something about their turbulent hue was disconcerting, for they seemed somewhat fathomless at that moment.

She found herself caught in the intensity of the gaze for only a second before shaking her head slightly, bringing herself back to her senses. _This guy's really starting to get on my nerves, and I have to get a move on_, she thought crossly as she threw the already slightly ajar car door wide open and made to get out—

...only to be thrown back into the seat yet again by her still buckled seat belt.

A bark of laughter erupted from the boy as Samantha threw her head back against the seat, letting out a frustrated half-groan, half-sigh as she unfastened the assailing strap. She tumbled out of the car gruffly, slamming the door shut forcefully and wheeling around to see the boy, Sirius Black, doubled over in laughter, clutching his stomach.

She threw him a searing look of bristling anger, her slight embarrasment only fueling her volatile temper, and turned her back to him coldly as she stalked toward her mother to help unload her trunk.

Another particularly strident cry of laughter pierced the air, making her cast yet another scathing glare over her shoulder at the boy, who continued laughing uproariously in her less-than-amused face.

"Oh, sod the hell off, would you?" she called angrily, her teeth gnashing together slightly as he continued to find such entertainment at her expense.

He slowly contained his laughter, staightening up with the same, nerve-testing smirk enveloping his lips. His eyes flashed with mirth as hers flashed with anger, and the two rivaling emotions intensified the moment dramatically.

For a moment, the bustling of the crowd was mute in Samantha's ears, and the various announcements on the intercoms vanished. All that existed was the insanely aggravating boy before her, her frustration and his amusement fusing together into some sort of strange attraction that slightly entranced both of them involuntarily.

The intensity of his mocking eyes seemed to be testing her, taunting her with challenge, but she refused to back down by averting her stare. If there was something she greatly thrived off of, it was any sort of challenge. Her blazing determination must've shone through her glare, for his smirk widened ever so slightly, making her eyes narrow further.

Just as she was sure he was about to accept defeat and look away, the beautiful chimes of Big Ben forced their way through Samantha's temporarily deafened ears, and she realized after the eighth and final chime that she had exactly five minutes to find platform 9 ¾ and board the Hogwarts Express.

Oddly enough, the sounds of the aged London landmark seemed to grab the boy's attention as well, for his head snapped up after the eighth chime, and after a moment he sauntered off in some general direction.

She smirked as she watched the boy disappear in the jumble of the crowd, his handsome face swallowed by the swarm of people. _Glad that's dead and gone_, she thought irritably as she strolled over to her worried-looking mother, who was twittering about in frenzy over something or other.

Dead and gone…

Ha.

**Author's Note: Alright, so I know Samantha may come across as a little intense at first, but I'm just a sucker for sarcasm and wit - what's the fun in 'niceness,' really? I'd really like to know what you all think, and favorite quotes would be scrumptious :o) **


	2. The Art of Idiocy

**BLACK AND WHITE**

The Art of Idiocy

Chaos.

Utter chaos.

That was what had became of Platform 9 ¾. Trunks were maneuvering through the air wildly, thrashing around uncontrollably as they were undoubtedly under the influence of rather unstable levitating charms. A mass of people flooded over the worn concrete floors, all sporting various forms of impatience on their anxious faces. Unidentified objects were zooming around in the air, coming dangerously close to contact with several unsuspecting heads and some even doing so.

Oddly enough, a strange assortment of objects seemed to have developed a life of their own, for a now shrieking quill had sprouted two miniscule, duck-like legs and was waddling away frantically from the wrath of an enraged tomato.

Students were shoving anxiously through the crowd, their eyes scanning the scene before them for parents lost in the muddle, friends that had not yet been greeted, etc., and amongst the disarray of it all stood a rather befuddled Samantha White, still a bit shaky from running headfirst through what seemed to be a completely solid brick wall without experiencing a very nasty head-on collision.

_Merlin, the train leaves in three minutes and from the looks of it, no one's even boarded,_ she thought to herself, bewildered by the lack of order and precision Hogwarts executed. _They'd have a right fit back at Andromeda's_.

A bitter taste settled itself on Samantha's tongue as she recalled her old school, Andromeda's All Girls Preparatory, with more than slight distaste. There, everything was performed with such suffocating exactness that Samantha often felt like she couldn't breathe. Even if she was outside, surrounded by a vast expanse of fresh air waiting to be inhaled, she still felt constricted. There was never a spontaneous, unplanned moment, a lesson that involved anything that wasn't completely controlled, not one second of blissful uncertainty desecrated the walls of Andromeda's.

It was more like a finishing school, really, where you performed perfectly, behaved perfectly, and even spoke perfectly, for diction and grammar were held in high esteem. It didn't matter if you gave the correct answer to a question, for nothing less was expected of you, but if your pronunciation was slightly off, you supplied a week's worth of gossip.

Although Samantha had excelled greatly there, her short temper and rather feisty attitude made her terribly impatient, which was not a virtue at Andromeda's. She somehow managed to keep her easily flared anger in check throughout six grueling years of provocation, and by provocation it wasn't anything like teasing or bullying, it was more the moronic, completely ignorant things people had the nerve to say.

Although Andromeda's had been pristine in manners and etiquette, boasting students well-learned in a weighty minimum of five languages, drama and catty remarks were unavoidable at any all girls school. Many a time it got ugly. Very ugly.

Nevertheless, it was over. _I'm glad to be rid of that_, Samantha thought sourly as she surveyed the frenzied mess before in a new light. _Better_, she thought, smiling appreciatively. _Much better_.

"...and remember to stay out of trouble, sweetie, we don't know how strict the professors there are. Oh, and send letters every week or so, just to keep us up on what's going on. And I bought you a subscription to the Daily Prophet, just so you know the latest news. You have to be up to date, what with you-know-who rising and all..." her mother babbled on and on for what must've been forever before she finally felt satisfied with her mandatory lecture, and took a moment to smile warmly at her daughter. "My baby, all grown up."

Samantha sighed as the predictable layer of salty tears coated her mother's deep brown eyes. "Mum, big scenes are fun and all, but could we skip the melodramatic bit just this once?"

"Yes, of course, dear. Wouldn't want to embarrass you on your first day," she said with an airy laugh, though she was still wiping her eyes and sniffling terribly. "I'm going to miss you, Sammy."

Samantha winced at the nickname her mother had grown so fond of, but she swallowed her protest, not wanting to spoil the overly sentimental moment, and nodded in agreement. "I'm going to miss you too, Mum."

"Sam, you're the best big sister ever!" Shelby cried, though Samantha was sure her mother couldn't see the insincerity and maliciousness in her eyes.

"Step-sister," Samantha grumbled under her breath so her mother wouldn't hear her, and then almost lost her balance as Shelby threw her pudgy arms around her. She recoiled slightly before reluctantly giving Shelby a pat on the back at her mother's pointed expression, then sighed in relief as she was relieved of her grasp.

Her mother opened her mouth to say something, surely about sisterly bonding or something equally sickening, but the warning whistle thankfully sounded from the train, causing an increase in the frantic shouting surrounding them.

"Well, then, I guess this is it!" her mother sang cheerily, but her voice was cracking and tears were yet again threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"I guess it is," Samantha murmured, finding herself feeling strangely wistful. Sure, she always felt sad to a certain degree when she left her mother for an entire year, but she felt an extra twinge of melancholy regret this time. It must've been because it was a new school, and her mother would be even farther away than she used to be. The whistle sounded again, breaking her from her trance, and she smiled as her mother enveloped her into a tight hug.

"I love you, sweetie. Have a great year, and don't forget to write," she said sadly as she broke away from her.

"I won't, Mum. I love you, too," she replied, then after a rather violent battle in her head, added, "Bye, Shelby."

"Bye!" she chirped, her pigtails bouncing stupidly.

"Goodbye, Mum."

"Goodbye, Sammy," her mother echoed wistfully.

Samantha turned around to face the train entrance where now only a few stragglers remained, and she felt a wave of nerves wash down her body. She tentatively walked over to the stout witch checking the boarding passes, feeling alarmingly timid and out of character.

"Name?" the witch squawked rudely, looking up at Samantha through horn rimmed glasses expectantly.

"Samantha White," she responded firmly, craning her neck to peer inside the train at what lay ahead of her. The witch ran a plump finger down a long roll of parchment before coming to a stop somewhere near the end.

"Samantha White, incoming seventh year?" the witch asked, looking up questioningly.

"That's me," she nodded assuringly as the witch eyed her suspiciously.

"Alright, on you go," she quipped, waving her hand dismissively. Samantha took one final look at her mother, who smiled back at her reassuringly, and took a deep breath, exhaling shakily. _Well, here goes nothing..._

Sirius Black sauntered casually across Platform 9 ¾, ignoring the persistent warning whistles whining from the Hogwarts Express. _They wouldn't leave without me_, he thought smugly, smirking at the inane number of girls who undoubtedly knew of his absence at this very second. _The entire female population would go on bloody strike._

He spotted a pudgy witch with frizzy black hair glaring at him from atop of horn rimmed glasses, but her glare immediately melted away as he gave her a smile. He waltzed over to her carelessly as if he wasn't ten minutes late, which he indeed was, and flashed her another charming smile.

She blushed and smiled shyly, looking down at her feet. Her gold pendant had the name "Edna" embellished on it in a flowery scrawl. "Edna, love, I must say you're looking lovely this year."

The witch blushed furiously, waving her hand in the air in an "Oh, stop it" type fashion and shook her head embarrassedly. "Mr. Black, you are too much, really."

He grinned at her, and she ducked her head down into her long scroll of parchment, unsuccessfully trying to hide the fresh blush that had tainted her cheeks. _Sheesh, even stony old broads like this aren't immune_, he thought amusedly, letting his eyes sweep across the now completely empty platform.

Ever since the fateful day he had charmed a pretty, blonde salesclerk at Honeyduke's to give him free sweets at the tender age of six, he realized he was destined to be Sirius Black, irresistible ladies man.

From that pivotal moment on, he began using his charm and dark good looks to no end on the female population, be it adult or child, to wriggle his way out of homework assignments or steal a girl's candy.

After eleven years of practice, saying that he had mastered the art of charming women was an absurdly vast understatement.

Yet, as utterly carefree it may have seemed, there was a slight problem with this predicament.

Perhaps more than slight.

Few knew it was all simply a front, a mere mask to hide behind. Sirius' entire life was full of a darkness that the happy families surrounding him a meager twenty minutes earlier would have no way of understanding.

A darkness filled with the twisted shackles of hatred and abandonment.

He had a hollow spot in his soul that nothing seemed to be able to fill, despite how lucky and happy his whole facade of a life appeared to be. Sure, he possessed an impressive amount of money, was unnervingly bright, incredibly popular amongst his fellow Hogwarts class, and Merlin knows he'd had his fair share of girls.

Yet there was still an emptiness within him that nothing could take away, not even the honorary Marauders that held so near and dear to his heart. The greatest prank in the history of Hogwarts couldn't even begin to fill it, for it was a spot in his heart that was reserved for, corny though it may sound, love.

No, not the brotherly love and compassion he held for the Marauders. That was something quite different. It was the imperative, paternal sort of love only your family could give you. The type of love that soothed away your worries during the evening, for you knew somewhere beyond the walls of your bedroom, someone was worrying even more about you, thinking incessantly about your well-being. The type of love that was unconditional, unfaltering, and everlasting...

The type of love that Sirius had secretly spent a small part of his life searching for, attempting to achieve, before defeatedly surrendering to a life of family feuds, betrayal, and ultimately, abandonment.

But this acceptance of harsh reality indeed took its vengeful toll. In Sirius's mind, he didn't need his family at all anymore. They were a whole bunch of worthless nutters who suffered from drastic superiority complexes.

Indeed, their minds were utterly caught up in the pureblood mania that had swept over the wizarding world, a mania that Sirius wanted nothing to do with. He was sickened by the atrocities being committed upon innocent people solely based upon who their parents were. To him, it was a bloody holocaust.

When his parents found out about his views on the matter one night during what ended up being a rather violent dinner, a rift was forever set. Their son Sirius was a failure.

Consequently, though bruised and battered both emotionally and physically, he spent the rest of his life proving to everyone that he was different from what his last named advertised. He declared it his primary goal, and set off to achieve it almost immediately.

This task was greatly helped by his being placed in valiant Gryffindor, a house that portrayed nobility and bravery, as opposed to Slytherin, a house which boasted of pride, cunning, and shrewd superiority. Every Black in history, save one, had been sorted into the dark, wicked likes of the Slytherin house, reveling in its grandeur and proclivity toward pureblooded wizards.

Needless to say, his designated house came as a bit of a shock to his family. A bit of a nasty shock.

However, the sorting gave Sirius the emphatic boost he needed to prove himself. He began by showing through various acts of valiance the nobility, kindness, and warmth he possessed. Almost immediately, he befriended James Potter, a Gryffindor and fellow Marauder, and together they set off making history in the school. They were both eager pranksters, making a name for themselves in any way possible.

Somewhere along the way they befriended Remus Lupin, a serious, more sensitive boy, though a prankster at heart, and Peter Pettigrew, who no one really knew how he fell into the equation, but somehow, it just fit. The four Marauders: Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. All nicknamed after their animagus forms. Mooney, the werewolf, Wormtail, the rat, Padfoot, the dog, and Prongs, the stag. The four became like brothers, like a family of their own...

Nevertheless, there was a certain emptiness that accompanied the notion of being loathed by your family that was unavoidable. But Sirius just learned to deal with it. That's what he's learned to do with everything, deal. Forget, but never forgive. Yes, that was Sirius... funny, charming, carefree Sirius...

"Mr. Black?" the frazzled witch repeated timidly, and Sirius shook his head slightly, wrenching himself out of his unfocused gaze and bringing his eyes back to her. He smiled, despite the troubled sensation thoughts about his family always brought to him.

"Ms. Edna?" Edna blushed again, giggling girlishly, which seemed out of place on a woman of her age.

"Actually it's Mrs. Edna," she replied pointedly, though her cheeks were still a dangerous looking crimson.

"What a shame," Sirius murmured, and the witch actually looked slightly remorseful. He couldn't help but smirking smugly at her weak, sad frame. "Well, darling, I must be going." The poor witch looked crestfallen. "Wouldn't want the train to leave without me. Till another time, I suppose," he said, flashing her a charming smile that made her sadness morph into rather pathetic anticipation.

Without another word, he boarded the train, eager to begin a new year full of memorable farewell pranks. _The Grand Finale_, he thought with a smirk.

_Geez, can a girl get a ruddy break?_

Samantha sighed exasperatedly as she peered into yet another completely full compartment, bustling with airy girls chatting away about some vapid topic or other.

She was nearing the end of the train by now and had yet to find a place to sit. The train was bound to depart any minute, and Samantha wanted nothing more than to settle down so she could properly assess her surroundings. Her trunk was clunking about behind her, making her stumble every few steps as it hit indentations in the floor. _This thing is at serious risk of a long, brutal death..._

She passed another full compartment, and then her pace slowed as she heard hushed voices slipping from the adjacent one.

"Did it hurt?" a high-pitched voice squeaked nervously.

"Of course it did, you pathetic toad! The Dark Lord does not simply play around!" a much lower voice hissed bitingly. Samantha, who had unconsciously been leaning toward the compartment door in an attempt to hear better, snapped her head back in alarm at the mention of Lord Voldemort.

_Only Death Eaters call him The Dark Lord_, she thought warily, a red flag of caution shooting up somewhere inside her. These were not people she wanted to associate herself with.

She took a silent step backward, trying to go unnoticed as she distanced herself from the crowd, but her foot caught on the strap of her trunk. She went flying forwards, crashing through the compartment door she so desperately wanted to avoid, landing face-first on the deep blue carpeting.

She hopped to her feet quickly, wasting no time lingering on the ground. She brushed herself off, then reluctantly looked up at the people around her.

A person's normal reaction to someone tripping so moronically would have been amusement, but no such emotion was portrayed on any of the faces staring back at her. Mild shock was the general expression at first, but after a second or two each individual person took on their own.

A sharp nosed blonde girl was overcome by what seemed to be extreme distaste, while a dark featured brunette stared at her with a malice that stole away much of the beauty you could tell she possessed. Something about her was oddly familiar. A beak-nosed boy with greasy hair glared at her warningly, and a sandy-haired boy with flashing green eyes smirked at her wickedly.

None of these expressions served to modify the tension Samantha was feeling, but the one by far made her the most uneasy was coming from a boy with long, white blonde locks and silvery blue eyes. He had a look of utmost contempt, though it was mixed with underlying intrigue and a suggestive smirk. It was this as well as the spiteful iciness his eyes contained that made Samantha shudder involuntarily.

"Aw, is da widdle guwl scawed?" the dark haired girl cooed in a voice that made the hairs on the back of Samantha's neck stand on end. But she shook it off, regaining her composure as she stood up a bit straighter. _This girl just challenged me._

"Sorry, but it takes a bit more than an ugly face to scare me," she retorted coolly, smirking inwardly as the girl's malicious smile melted off her face... only to be replaced by a look of murderous rage. _Uh-oh._

"WHY, YOU DIRTY LITTLE-"

"Bellatrix, please. Restrain yourself, girl," the blonde one spoke calmly, never taking his glinting eyes off of Samantha. He continuously let his eyes drift up and down her body, though he did it tantalizingly slow, absorbing every personal detail. Samantha felt naked under his searing stare, as if she had been violated on every spot his gaze let itself linger.

"Lucius, did you not see!? _THAT FILTHY MUDBLOOD SPOKE TO ME_!" the brunette cried, outraged.

"Yes, I saw, Bellatrix - all in all, it was slightly amusing," he responded, voicing the same hint of intrigue present in his gaze.

The girl Samantha assumed to be Bellatrix cried out indignantly, and at this the blonde boy rolled his eyes, tearing his eyes away from Samantha for the first time since she walked in. "Oh, don't fret you stupid girl, she reeks of pureblood." Then he slowly brought his stony eyes back up the length of Samantha's body, resting them on her eyes. "You can tell just by looking at her."

Samantha frowned at this, feeling a sense of defiant pride. She wasn't a pureblood by any means - her father was a muggle as they come, though her step-father was a wizard - and she wanted nothing more than to silence the intimidating blonde with this fact. 

It had never really mattered to her, being a half-blood, for she got no sense of shame out of it. She focused on other, more important things, like high marks and life achievements. She thought the pureblood mania going around was absurd, and now with the rise of Lord Voldemort, things were getting dangerous. The horrors broadcast through the news were enough to make her sick.

After the blonde boy, who's name must've been Lucius, made his pureblood comment, the rest of the compartment began to stare at her with a new-found interest. While most took on a spark of curiosity and mild acceptance, the greasy haired boy's glare had yet to falter.

She parted her lips to correct his assumption, though after a moment she thought twice about it. These people were obviously part of the discriminatory few that saw anything less than pureblooded as scum, and they also seemed to be the type to use violence against anything they disagreed with. Admitting that she was part of the group they despised could be extremely dangerous, especially given her attitude and her inability to control her sharp tongue.

The number of eyes on Samantha made her feel unbearably uncomfortable, and the tension in the compartment continued to mount. The sandy haired boy winked at her slyly, sultry desire flashing in his shining eyes. Samantha grimaced, and Lucius must've noticed, for he glanced at the boy suspiciously, then narrowed his eyes at the expression on his face. "Stop staring, Avery, it's awfully rude."

Samantha snorted contemptuously, rolling her eyes. "You're one to talk."

At this, Lucius looked slightly taken aback, but an intrigued smile slowly crept onto his lips. "You don't like me looking at you?" Something about his tone made Samantha uneasy. It was almost twistedly playful.

"Actually I adore being objectified, please proceed," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of the question. To her disgust, his smile widened. He stayed like that for a moment, leering at her somewhat thoughtfully, before he spoke.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

She contorted her face into a genuinely contemplative expression. "Mr. Rogers?"

"Fascinating," he said, leaning back in his seat and staring at her.

"No, you're really not," she replied, preparing for her exit. "I mean, don't get me wrong - being gawped at is oodles of fun and everything, but I think I've overstayed my welcome here."

With that final sentence, she turned abruptly and strode out of the compartment, slightly aware of the fact that it would be incredibly easy for them to hex her with her back turned. But she didn't care, she just wanted to get out of there as soon as humanly possible.

The air in the corridor felt incredibly light and weightless compared to the heavy, tension induced atmosphere of the compartment.

She grabbed her trunk hastily and began to plunker down the aisle, going relatively fast and not watching were she was going out of the desperation to get away from her previous experience.

Without warning, a person flung the door to a compartment open right as she was walking by it, hitting her square in the face. She tumbled backwards, stumbling over her cumbersome trunk and losing her balance, plummeting yet again into an unsuspecting compartment, only this time falling onto her back.

She felt a searing pain in the back of her head near her left ear, causing her vision to blur slightly as she tried to regain focus of her now spinning surroundings. This fall was much nastier than the previous one, and the only thing she was aware of was the sound of laughter accompanying the ringing in her ears.

_Oh, so now it's funny_, she thought bitterly as she closed her eyes, trying to steady the dizzy feeling she had. _Laugh it up while I shrivel up and die, why don't you..._

After a couple of seconds, she decided she felt stable enough to open her eyes, and found a very nasty surprise waiting for her on the other side of her eyelids.

Hovering only about a foot or so above her was the same handsome face and shaggy black hair that had bothered her so upon arriving to Kings Cross. He was looking at her with wicked amusement dancing in his eyes, though she was sure she saw mild surprise flicker across the dark grey. "I'm beginning to think you do idiotic things just for me."

**Author's Note: Okay, chapter two - a bit on the boring side, and I sort of messed with the time scheme a tad by placing Bella and Lucius in their same year, but hey... I think I can have a bit of a creative liscence, right :o) Anyway, more insight into Sirius and Samantha's past - next chapter will have a lot more humor to liven it up!**


	3. Melodramatic Mood Swings

**BLACK AND WHITE**

Melodramatic Mood Swings

"_You_—how… what?" she sputtered bewilderedly, her eyes rounding with discontented surprise at the sight of the familiar face. _What in the ruddy world is he doing here?_

The bloke merely gave a wry sort of grin in response, stormy eyes dancing with amusement at her apparent dislike.

"You're a _wizard_?"

His grin twisted itself into a smug sort of smirk at the stupidity of her question. "Well, since only witches and wizards can board this train, which happens to be en route to a school for only witches and wizards, I reckon the only logical answer would be yes."

Her eyes narrowed darkly at his derisive tone, not appreciating the condescending arrogance in his eyes. "Well, yes, obviously, but…"

He smirked at her slightly flustered expression. "Brain cells, love. Use them."

A scowl promptly swept over her features, a wave of pain traversing her body from the fall. "Well maybe if my head didn't feel like it was being attacked by a rabid flock of woodpeckers, I would."

He cracked a small smile at her rather strange metaphor, opening his mouth to retort with some sort of cheeky comment when a wry voice interjected from above.

"Blimey, Padfoot," it commented humorously, its tone low and pleasingly smooth, "five minutes into the year and girls are already fawning at your feet."

Her eyes flashed slightly at the demeaning comment. "I am not fawning at his feet, you—" She whipped her head around rashly to find the source of the voice, but the rapid movement sent a blinding flood of pain through her head, making a low groan of pain escape from her lips.

She sunk back down onto the comfortless rug, her eyes shutting tightly as her head began to pound wildly.

"Merlin, Lily—I reckon you might've killed the girl," yet another voice remarked, slightly softer than the last, though with a subtle hint of derisive cynicism.

"I—I swear I didn't see her!" a skittish voice rang out frantically, its feminine pitch starkly contrasting with the depth of the former two. "I—I didn't look before I opened the door because I—well, because I was so angry, and… just… I—OH JAMES POTTER IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A STUPID PRAT THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED!"

Samantha winced as the piercing cry jarred against her ears, bringing her hand to her temple tentatively as her headache spiraled to unbearable heights.

"Relax, would you, Evans?" the first voice inquired dryly, sardonic edge quite evident. "I mean, I know I have an uncontrollable effect on you, but this is just a bit over-the-to—"

"Don't start with me, Potter," the girl's voice admonished lowly, the hysteria slightly giving way to contempt.

"You can't start what's already underway, love," the same voice replied cheekily, and a somewhat strangled growl of frustration emitted from the girl's lips.

Under normal circumstances, Samantha suspected she might find this situation somewhat amusing, for the girl's temper seemed like it was steadily reaching its limits. The boy's dry remarks weren't exactly lacking in entertainment value, either.

However, at the moment her temples were throbbing mercilessly, her ears were filled with a shrill-pitched ringing, and the object of her gradually growing dislike was still floating above her.

She snapped her eyes open at the thought, scowling as his cheeky grey eyes met her own azure gaze. There was such an underlying self-satisfaction in his stare, such blatant arrogance, and it made her skin prickle with irritation.

"Some advice, Padfoot—get off the girl before you spontaneously combust, for at the rate she's glaring at you, it's only a matter of seconds…"

_Bright boy, that one,_ she thought irritably, hoping that the raven-haired bloke above her would take heed to his friend's advice, though he merely kept smirking down at her, dark locks falling across his eyes, smugness almost unbearable.

"Do you intend on moving, or should we just skip up to the part where I hex you?" she snapped crossly, attempting to rise into some sort of sitting position.

She winced immediately as a sharp pain jolted through her body halfway through the process, forcing her to surrender back down to the merciless floor yet again. Her surroundings began to spin astonishingly fast as her vision became rather bleary, and the slightly dulled throbbing of her head resumed its unbearably sharp pounding.

The handsome boy's expression darkened slightly with concern at her apparent pain. "You're hurt."

"My, aren't we brilliant," she replied bitterly, though her voice was somewhat weak from her reborn dizziness.

"Maybe we should get Madam Pomfrey," someone squeaked rather pathetically from beside her, though she didn't dare turn her head for fear of magnifying the pain.

"She's not on the train, dimwit, she stays at Hogwarts," the low voice retorted dismissively, a biting edge infused into its tone.

"Prongsie, be nice," the bloke still hovering above her murmured.

"Psh—it's not my fault Wormtail's incapable of intelligent thought," the previous voice huffed.

"Incapable of thought itself, actually," the bloke commented wickedly.

"I am not!"

"Capable of thought."

"What?"

"'You are not' capable of thought."

"…I don't get it."

"Exactly."

"But I—"

"Just let it go."

"Wait, but—"

"It's over, Pete."

"You four, honestly!" the girl interjected rashly, worry and annoyance braided into her rich voice. "Could you try and be serious for ten bloody seconds?"

"Evans, in case you haven't noticed, I've sort of got the whole 'being Sirius' thing nailed," the black-haired bloke responded with a knowing grin as a unanimous groan of loathing filled the compartment.

_I don't get it,_ Samantha thought perplexedly.

"Shall I give him the name-joke lecture now, or when we get to Hogwarts?"

"I'd say it's an expired cause, Moony. If it didn't sink in the first twelve hundred and sixty three times—"

"Has it really been that little?"

"Shocking, isn't it?"

"Oy, stop talking about me like I'm not here. It's bloody irritating," the boy remarked, rather miffed.

"And you won't get the ruddy hell off of me! Try _that_ for bloody irritating!" Samantha cried angrily as she made a feeble attempt to shove him away, only gaining a dark smirk.

"No need to resort to violence, now, love."

"Call me love one more time and violence will be the least of your worries," she snapped contemptuously, smacking away his rough hand angrily as it attempted to pinch her cheek.

"Good God, Padfoot, just get off of her before you end up in Tahiti with an arse for a head," one of the male voices remarked sardonically, almost musical with humor.

"Rather appealing idea, actually," Samantha agreed bitterly, narrowing her eyes as the bloke simpered darkly at her yet again. "Is smirking the only function your lips are capable of?"

His eyes took on a lecherous gleam, and a seductive smile slowly replaced his cheeky grin as he leaned slightly closer to her. "There are a few other things I tend to do with them…"

_I should've seen that coming…_

"Another inch closer and you lose your pulse," she warned heatedly, a bit flustered by his sudden proximity. _Is this really necessary?_

"Another inch closer and I lose my self-control," he murmured seductively, gazing down at her lips with a dark smirk, making her eyes widen slightly at the implication.

_Okay, enough is bloody enough,_ she thought sharply as she gruffly shoved his shoulders away, scowling at the mild irritation that splashed across his charcoal eyes. _What a git, did he really expect me to just play along?_

"Look, as chuffed as I am by this demeaning display of testosterone, I'm going to ask you one more time nicely—_ get the bloody hell off me_," she snarled, eyes icy and slightly contemptuous.

He raised a inquiring brow, eyes dark with derision. "How is that 'nicely'?"

Her lips pursed into a challenging scowl. "It wasn't - I lied."

He clucked his tongue scornfully, expression alight with mockery. "Lying's a sin, you know."

"Whatever will I do with myself?" she responded flatly, growing increasingly aggravated by the fact that he still wasn't moving.

"It's worthy of quite a harrowing punishment, love," he pressed on suggestively.

"Well that explains your proximity, I expect," she retorted irritably, growing weary of the back and forth banter.

A muffled laugh sounded from somewhere in the background, though the bloke simply continued to stare at her somewhat amusedly for a moment, making her feel like a circus act.

Her eyes narrowed. "Five… four… three… two… o—"

"Alright, alright," he interjected slyly, holding his hands out in defeat as he slowly lifted himself away from her sprawled out body, "Anything for a beautiful girl."

She heard a derisive snort sound from behind her, and the girl's voice spoke up. "Yeah, anything for a beautiful girl capable of ruining that deformity of a face you hold in such high esteem."

Samantha cracked a small smile at the remark, making a mental note to try and get to know its owner better. _I think we'd get along…_

She slowly rose into a sitting position, making sure to avoid any rash movements as a means of dulling the sharp throbbing of her body. She tentatively rubbed a sore spot on her arm, glancing up for the first time at the other inhabitants of the compartment.

Her curious eyes met a rather odd assortment of people her age, all of them sporting varying expressions of concern or amusement.

A handsome boy with rather tired-looking maple eyes and sandy brown locks stared at her with a slight frown, genuine concern splashed across his features.

A quite attractive messy haired boy with sparkling hazel eyes and slightly skewed glasses scrutinized her carefully with obvious amusement, a crooked grin tugging at his lips.

A beautiful girl with long, crimson waves of hair and stunning emerald eyes surveyed her with a worried frown, her porcelain cheeks slightly flushed with anger.

And somewhere behind them, a somewhat dumpy boy with lank locks of dirty blonde and dull, watery blue eyes stared at her shiftily, awkwardness exuding from his uncomfortable posture.

_Quite the bunch we've got here_, Samantha thought with slight amusement despite her previous annoyance, finding something about the combination oddly endearing.

"Are you alright, er...?"

Her gaze shifted to the boy on the far left of the compartment, his amber eyes covered slightly by the light brown hair flopping into his face. "Samantha," she offered helpfully, "and I'm fine—thanks for _caring._"

She glanced coldly at the raven-haired boy from before, leaning casually against the doorframe with his arms crossed, who simply winked breezily in return.

"Oh, wait—Samantha White?" the pretty redhead queried, a look of comprehension bestowing itself upon her vivid eyes.

"Er—yes?" Samantha responded hesitantly, not exactly sure of how the girl could know her._ I've definitely never seen her before… _

"You're the transfer student, then!" she exclaimed keenly, bringing her palm to her forehead in slight exasperation. "Merlin, how thick of me, I'm actually supposed to show you around!"

"Oh, well… you found me," Samantha replied rather brilliantly, rolling her eyes at herself briefly. _My social skills are simply outstanding sometimes. _

"I've actually heard quite a bit about you," the girl pressed on cryptically, a small, knowing smile spreading across her strawberry colored lips.

"Really? That's strange..." Samantha murmured perplexedly, tucking a stray lock of ebony behind her ear. _How would anyone here know me? _

"Don't worry—it's all quite flattering," she assured kindly, a sly glint overcoming her compassionate eyes. "You see, I have this friend at Andromeda's…"

Samantha was immediately overcome by the powerful urge to roll her eyes, though she managed to suppress the rude response with a great effort. She couldn't help but feel a slight bout of disappointment flood over her; for she had reasoned that the people at Hogwarts were different from the uppity snobs that reigned over the halls of Andromeda's.

However, the redhead's remark had dampened that idea slightly, for it was almost an unwritten rule among the conceited princesses of Andromeda's that they were only friends with people that were exactly like themselves.

_Which means this girl must be nothing but a self-obsessed worshipper of all things make-up related,_ Samantha deduced regretfully, gazing at the girl with slightly doleful eyes. _Shame, she seemed quite clev—_

"I take it you're quite familiar with my friend Greta Ninket?"

Samantha eyes immediately flashed with excitement at the name, feeling a flood of surprise wash over her disappointed eyes. _Of course, who else would've said anything good about me?_

Greta Ninket, Samantha's only true friend—as well as anarchist partner in crime—back at the fascist asylum some referred to as Andromeda's, was one of the limited few students she could ever actually bear.

Despite her slightly over-rebellious attitude, which often came between the two and consequently prevented them from becoming too close, Samantha took an instant liking to how different she was from the sea of conformity everyone else belonged to.

Granted, the girl was rather bizarre, what with her somewhat satanic rituals and so-called 'remedial herbs'—but when it came to shameless pranking, the pair of them made quite the team.

Together they always snaked their way around Andromeda's, dodging the intricate system of rules and pulling very satisfying pranks on well-deserving victims. Samantha always devised the pranks, more the genius behind the evil plotting, while Greta set everything in motion.

Samantha smiled fondly in retrospect as she recalled observing Rosaline Johnson's long golden curls transform into wriggling earth worms, or making Loretta Strang's delicately enhanced nose sprout long, thick tufts of dark green hair that doubled in length every minute or so.

"Greta Ninket is the only reason I survived six years at that blasted school," Samantha finally responded contently, a genuine smile spreading over her lips for the first since she'd boarded the Express.

However, a burning question floated about her mind as she lifted her gaze to meet the redhead's sparkling green eyes. How was the violet-haired, multi-pierced, shamelessly tattooed prankster even connected with the fair redhead, who seemed to be the epitome of all that is proper—especially judging by the badge advertising the words 'Head Girl' on the breast pocket of her robes.

"Truth be told, I'm a bit—er… _surprised_ you two are friends," Samantha admitted carefully, trying in vain not to come across as stereo-typing. "I mean, not to be quick-to-judge or anything, but… you two seem like total opposites."

To her slight surprise, the girl simply smiled slyly at the comment, eyes full of understanding. "It would seem that way at first, but we're honestly far more alike than you'd think."

Samantha nodded her head with what she hoped was a look of comprehension, though inside she was still quite skeptical of the girl's claim. "Right."

The girl didn't seem particularly fooled by her act of agreement, though her sparkling eyes didn't hold any resentment. "She's far more over the top than I am—with the piercings and hair and what not—but we both seem to have a taste for _giving people what they deserve_."

The last few words were obviously directed at the attractive boy with disheveled black locks, who greeted the stony glare with a goofy, lopsided grin. Samantha couldn't help but smile slightly at the exchange, finding herself taking a subtle liking to the boy despite herself. There was simply something so amicable about his humor-filled hazel eyes.

The pretty girl muttered something along the lines of 'git' under her breath, rolling her eyes irritably before drawing her attention back to Samantha with an exasperated sigh. "I'm Lily, by the way. Lily Evans."

"Also known as the lovely Lily Flower—"

"Or the Ice Queen—"

"Or Pippi Longstocking—"

"Or Raggedy Ann—"

"Hey, she's not raggedy!"

"Red hair, mate."

"Oh, I get it."

"It's simply _Lily_," she declared evenly through clenched teeth, trying to suppress her boiling anger. Samantha viciously fought back a smirk as she shook the girl's extended hand, trying to sympathize with her apparent frustration.

"Nice to meet you." She glanced over in the direction of the brown-haired boy curiously, smiling slightly as he raised an eyebrow at her questioning look, and then glanced back over at Lily expectantly.

"That's Remus Lupin," Lily announced, glancing indicatively at the boy, who smiled warmly and lifted his hand into a lazy wave.

"Hi," Samantha greeted with a casual smile, switching her gaze over to the short, podgy blonde boy dawdling next to him questioningly.

"And that's Peter Pettigrew." Lily inclined her head slightly, signaling the mousy boy with an arbitrary wave of her hand.

"Any relation to Scarlet Pettigrew?" Samantha inquired conversationally, referring to a fellow student whom she used to attend Andromeda's with.

"Um, no," the boy responded rather dimly, shifting around uncomfortably on his feet as his watery gaze darted about the room.

"Oh, okay, then…"

_This isn't fantastically awkward or anything._

"So who is th—"

"Don't even ask," Lily cut in quickly, an angry gleam overcoming her vivid green eyes, "the rest aren't even worth acknowledging."

"Oy!"

Samantha's sapphire gaze snapped over to the tall boy with messy black hair and glasses, who stood with his arms crossed indignantly across his broad chest. "I think I deserve an intro—"

"No, it's okay, Prongs," the dangerously handsome boy from earlier interjected, black strands falling across his grey eyes carelessly. _Why can't I remember his name? Was it Cheerios something?_

"If dear Lillian deems us unworthy of her introductions, we'll just have to make do with our own shrewd and clever tactics," he pressed on darkly, a wicked smirk overcoming his lips as Lily's eyes flashed angrily.

"Oh, bloody—Sirius Black! For the five hundredth and _final_ time, my name is _not_ Lillian!" she fumed dangerously, fists balled tightly at her sides.

The bloke, Sirius, simply widened his smirk. "See? I got her to introduce me."

Realizing her mistake, Lily groaned with almost tangible irritation, startling eyes flashing a violent shade of emerald. "Oh, you two are simply impossible, honestly!"

"Impossible to resist..." the boy with the disheveled locks of ebony murmured lewdly, a crooked smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.

Samantha let out a small snicker, unsuccessfully trying to balance empathy for Lily with amusement from the exchanged remarks. Although she could easily understand Lily's exasperation—for she too had an easily flared temper—the whole scenario was decidedly fun to observe.

Lily, on the harsh contrary, seemed quite far from amused as snapped her smoldering glare onto the bespectacled bloke, who continued smirking cheekily. "Don't you have some girl to go take advantage of? I mean, surely there's at least two left in the entire bloody school that you haven't gotten your smug paws all over."

Although the bloke's concealing smirk didn't so much as falter, Samantha briefly noticed the slightest of shifts in his sparkling hazel pools, hardening their carelessly amused appearance momentarily into slight resent.

However, the moment passed quickly, and the lively sparkle of mirth instantaneously rematerialized itself in his playful eyes. "As a matter of fact, there are, and they both happen to be bickering relentlessly in this very compartment. Convenient, wouldn't you say?"

Samantha's smile promptly slid from her lips as she slowly deduced that she was a part of that equation, and she raised a suspicious eyebrow at the raven-haired boy whose name she didn't even know. "Watch who you victimize, Romeo."

His olive-tinted eyes glimmered with amusement as they swung over to her, wrenching themselves away from Lily's pretty face for the first time in a good ten minutes. "Don't worry about it, love, I've already got my Juliet."

He sent a sly wink over in Lily's direction, and she simply scoffed disgustedly, apparently too repulsed to even reply.

Samantha once again had the slightest urge to laugh, though she quelled it immediately as Lily's blazing eyes snapped over to her sapphire gaze irritably.

"I suppose I may as well introduce it to you—better my opinion than that of some brainwashed Barbie doll," Lily stated bitterly, avoiding the grinning boy's gaze quite determinedly. "Samantha, meet _Potter_."

Samantha smiled amicably, though her eyes were dancing with cynical amusement as she lifted her hand into a curt wave of acknowledgment. "Hullo, Potter."

Sirius snorted slightly, rolling his eyes mockingly and fixing her with a condescending stare. "Potter's his last name, Einstein. 'Hullo, Potter!'—genius."

Her eyes narrowed into scathing slits of aquamarine anger at his mocking tone, her gradually lifting mood plummeting drastically as he smirked at her arrogantly. "And tell me—since you're so brilliant and mighty—how the bloody hell I was supposed to know that that was his last name?"

He simply shrugged carelessly, leaning further back onto the doorframe and titling his head up slightly, staring down at her through silky strands of black hair. "Dunno, really—figured it was obvious."

"Gee, well maybe the fact that you've known him for six years already contributed to that brilliant assumption," she retorted testily, rolling her eyes at his dimwitted explanation. _Might as well have said 'Because I say so.'_

"Er—anyway, Evans," the bloke with glasses interjected amusedly, gazing at the bickering pair with obvious entertainment for a lingering moment before swinging his gaze over to Lily. "I believe the lovely Miss White here has the right to be told my first name, as well. I mean, it's hardly fair to only give her one name for me when I gave her so many wonderful ones for you."

_Fair point,_ Samantha thought briefly as she considered the boy's argument, though her thoughts immediately clouded over with irritation as an increasingly familiar dry, conceited voice spoke up.

"Actually, Prongs, that was a collaborative effort," Sirius commented smugly, sharing a rakish grin with the bespectacled boy before switching his mischievous gaze to Lily. "But I concur, Evans, you should tell her James' name."

The bloke, apparently James, groaned with slight exasperation. "Way to ruin the element of surprise, Padfoot."

Samantha snorted derisively, making everyone's stare fly over to her inquisitively. "The suspense was simply unbearable, really."

Lily scoffed irritably at no one in particular, crossing her arms around her chest snappishly. "A lot of things in this compartment are unbearable." No one questioned who the comment was aimed toward.

Sirius merely clucked his tongue in reproach, smirk lifting his lips into a rakish half-smile. "Touchy, touchy, Evans. Must be 'that time of the mo—'"

"Don't finish that sentence, mate," Remus interrupted warningly, maple eyes donning a look of concern.

"Why not?" Sirius queried, puzzled gaze flying over to his friend questioningly.

Remus simply nodded toward the two girls indicatively, whose outraged faces mirrored one another's look of wide-eyed, bewildered disgust. "Hah—right…"

James chuckled lowly to himself, watching as Sirius eyed the fuming pair with slight apprehension in his charcoal eyes. "Such a charmer, Padfoot—however do you dream up such brilliant things to say?"

"I'm gifted," Sirius replied somewhat irritably, not particularly amused by James' mocking tone. _What a hypocritical git_, Samantha thought bitterly, _see how much he likes getting mocked… _

"No, honestly, Sirius," James pressed on mercilessly, eyes alight with amusement as Sirius rolled his eyes with aggravation. "I want to know—I mean, remember that one time you wanted to bulk up for Quidditch, and you asked Rebecca Grislow how she put on thirty pounds over the summer so easily?"

Samantha let out a loud snort of derisive laughter as Sirius' lips tightened into a grim line of annoyance, his playful eyes narrowing into slits of slight anger. "Are you ruddy kidding me? You _asked _someone that?"

"Sirius is full of wonderfully crafted comments and questions, really," James replied before Sirius could form some sort of scathing remark, making the raven-haired bloke shake his head with distinct annoyance and send James a less-than-amused scowl.

"Let it go, will you?"

"Oh, I'm perfectly content hearing more," Samantha chirped cheekily as Sirius' scowl deepened, making James' smirk widen considerably.

"Brilliant—where to begin?" he began contently. "Oh, right, that one time in second year when you asked Leona Katz if you could borrow her—what was the exact wording?—troll wig for Halloween, and it turns out that was her real hair. I think she might've shaved her head the next day…"

Samantha laughed heartily, envisioning the humorous scene in her mind's eye with more than slight amusement as Sirius' eyes narrowed bitterly. "Oh, go to hell, James."

"Best idea you've had all day, Black," Lily commented dryly as she continued to glare icily at James, her eyes burning with a sort of subdued, quiet anger that only years of intense rivalry could accomplish.

"You can join him, Evans," Sirius muttered snappishly, his arrogant air gradually being replaced by kindling anger.

Samantha watched with slight surprise as his playfully sarcastic mood rapidly swung to mounting irritation, almost amused at how drastically his emotions were changing.

Lily scoffed in agreement, voicing Samantha's thoughts. "So much talk about me being touchy, look at you and your mood swings—ruddy violent, I tell you."

Sirius glanced up at her stormily, a darkly blazing fire flashing in his hardening, charcoal glare. "What are you even on about? I've never had a mood swing in my entire life."

Samantha almost succumbed to the urge to laugh for the fifth time that day, staring at the attractive bloke incredulously.

"Right, because you're not having one right now or anything," Lily illustrated sarcastically, shooting Sirius a pointed look.

"How the bloody hell am I having a mood swing right now? I'm perfectly fine, thank you!" he snapped angrily in response, causing Remus to shake his head slightly is warning, though Lily paid little heed.

"Of course you're fine, why else would you be biting my head off?"

"Bloody—_I'm not angry!_" he cried furiously, slamming his fist into the doorway gruffly and consequently sending a slight tremor though the compartment.

"Then why are you yelling!?"

"I'M NOT YELLING!" he bellowed even louder, making Samantha bite her lip furiously to keep from slipping into a merciless fit of hysterics—it was all so incredibly funny to her for some reason.

"Oh, really! So what do you call that, _singing_?"

"I—_maybe_!"

"_You're yelling!_"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"AM FUCKING NOT!"

"ARE RUDDY TO—"

"Holy hell, shut _up!_" Samantha bellowed stridently at the top of her lungs—which happened to be astonishingly loud due to bountiful practice from bitter quarrels with Shelby—causing both Sirius and Lily to glare over at her scathingly, panting heavily.

All the other inhabitants of the compartment stood in a deathly silence, though Samantha could feel the soundless mirth radiating from James and Remus as she smiled meekly. "I—uh, sorry, but… your heads were about to implode, and that's kind of… you know, bad…"

"Whatever—she started it," Sirius spat bitterly, returning his blazing gaze over to Lily, whose eyes widened spitefully.

"I did not!"

"Did too—I was there!"

"We all were, nitwit," James muttered lowly, the corner of his lips twitching slightly from its desperate desire to lift into a smirk.

"Well…_good!_" Sirius responded rather frustratedly.

James shook his head slowly in obvious amusement, eyeing his friend with derisive disdain. "It's times like these when I truly wonder why—or rather how—I'm friends with you."

"He's the only one with an I.Q. as low as yours," Lily chimed in irritably, cheeks still slightly flushed with anger, "it's perfectly understandable."

"Well fine then, everyone gang up on me, why don't you," Sirius growled irascibly as strode over to the nearest seat, hunkering down loudly and slipping into a moody huff of a silence.

"Wow, let's not get melodramatic or anything," Samantha remarked sarcastically as she stared at his exaggerated pose with slightly amused disbelief. _What a drama queen, honestly…_

"You—just—never—!" He let out a strangled growl of frustration, glaring at her angrily.

"Good one," she commented dryly, staring at his raging face with slight satisfaction.

"Jesus—be thankful you look the way you do, otherwise…"

She raised a skeptical brow, eyeing him curiously and not fully understanding his implication. "Otherwise… you'd act like an arrogant, pompous prat? Oh—would you look at that? Too late."

She heard a snort of laughter from beside her, and she glanced over to find Remus chuckling lowly, obviously trying to mask his amusement by ducking his head behind his sandy-brown locks.

Sirius sent him a searing glare to which he responded by shaking his head innocently, barely containing his mirth. "I'm sorry, mate, really, but it's so refreshing to see someone—especially a girl—put you in your place."

She narrowed her eyes at the words, scowling as her blazing blue eyes flew back over to Sirius, whose trifling smirk was already starting to resurface on his lips despite his split-second moment of pure rage.

"I wouldn't get too used to it, Moony," Sirius advised dismissively as he leaned back into his seat, smug smile overcoming his previous frown as he stared straight into Samantha's challenging eyes. "It was most definitely a one-time thing."

Samantha smirked darkly at the statement, cerulean eyes glittering.

_Oh, we'll see about that… _

**_Author's Note: Hopefully a little more humorous than the last chapter, which was rather dry but… oh well :o) You finally meet the Marauders! I hope they weren't disappointing, more of them will most definitely come up in the next chapters. I tried to develop Samantha's character a little more, so hopefully you guys like her. She's definitely a sarcastic one :o) Anyway, please read and review, I'd really appreciate it!_**


	4. Dog Whistles and Dying Hyenas

**Chapter Four: Dog Whistles and Dying Hyenas **

After a solid half-hour or so of continuous, petty bickering, a disgruntled silence settled itself over the crowded compartment, finally granting Samantha her highly-anticipated moment of peace.

She didn't seem to be the only one immersed in her own dimension of muddled thoughts, for everyone was rather miffed at one another to a certain degree, bestowing a stony air upon the pensive quiet.

Lily was sitting rigidly in her seat, arms folded coldly across her chest, low-burning glower spread over her delicate features. Her vibrant waves of red hair were slightly disheveled from James' continuous attempts to run his hands through them, and her ivory complexion had yet to lose its angry tinge of red.

Directly across from her was Sirius, strewn sloppily over more than half the bench, wedging Peter tightly between himself and the wall. Although his careless posture seemed casual and relaxed, a stony glare was deeply etched onto his lips, and his charcoal eyes gazed out the window darkly.

Selfishly taking up whatever space remained beside Sirius was James' brawn form, his body reclined into a relaxed posture with his hands loosely clasped behind his head. He too seemed to be slightly disgruntled by something or other—at this point no one could be too sure on the specifics—as he stared at his shuffling feet moodily.

Remus, who seemed to be the least trifled of the bunch, lounged back into his seat pensively, scrutinizing _The Unabridged History of Werewolf Mutations_ with a small, contemplative frown. From time to time a small, almost inscrutable smirk would manifest itself upon his lips, giving the subtle impression that he was somewhat amused by everyone's meaningless annoyance.

Everyone, that is, besides Peter—who seemed utterly confused as to what everyone was so vaguely miffed about, and continually darted his perplexed, dull blue gaze about the room questioningly.

A few times his watery eyes had met with Samantha's—who had attempted to smile politely every time despite her surly mood—but his shifty gaze always flew away from hers quickly.

_I always suspected smiling made me look rather demonic_, she thought dryly as she settled her churning blue gaze on the scenery flying past the thick glass of the window, a blur of chaotic colors and shapes.

With a languid sigh, her body sunk deeper into the plush cushioning of her seat—fortunately situated between Remus and Lily, the two people most bearable to her throughout her journey thus far. Lily because she seemed to possess a mentality similar to Samantha's as far as being short-tempered, and Remus simply because he remained calm in the midst of petty quarreling.

As the blurred landscape whizzed by, her mind gradually wandered off to thoughts about Andromeda's, causing her to mentally grimace as she recalled the crisp, white linen dress the faculty required all students to wear as the designated uniform. _How I loathed those dresses…_

It truly was a ridiculously ironic system, for the whole significance of the color white was to symbolize purity and innocence—yet hardly a single dress wasn't charmed to hang vastly shorter or fit startlingly tighter than specified.

Samantha even recalled with derisive amusement when her Divination professor pulled her aside once during class to ask if she needed a smaller size, for everyone else's dresses were drastically more revealing. Even Greta, who Samantha considered as very much separated from the conformity of the masses, succumbed to this ritual and severely altered her clothes.

_Blimey, that school had its issues…_

Her lips contorted into a slight grimace as her mind replayed the traditional, somewhat backward ways of the Preparatory, recalling with great distaste the customary walk across the lengthy courtyards with a designated partner.

The demeaning nature of this custom lay in the fact that each girl was to be guided by a specified boy from the neighboring academy—Heathgrove's Institute for Exceptional Wizards—as if she would get hopelessly lost _in her own school_ without him as her guide.

Lots of the other girls positively fawned over this tradition, for it provided them with a rare opportunity to hike their skirts up even higher and bumble and swoon over hormonal blokes. Many of the designated pairs would feign utter confusion and somehow end up getting horribly "lost" among the shady patches of shrubbery and trees—always returning to the school manor after a few hours with tangled hair, disheveled clothing, and incriminatingly flushed cheeks.

Of course the staff always turned a blind eye to such happenings, for Samantha was positively convinced that as 'pro the education and superiority of women' as they seemed, they truthfully expected every girl to simply marry smartly and subsist on that as a future.

"Let the little darlings flirt about a bit, Darcy," she recalled hearing the Headmistress, Lady Izadora, once advise to a young, male professor who was complaining about a particular girl's shameless fawning over him. "After all, in the end, that's the only skill that shall get them anywhere in life."

Samantha had been carelessly strolling about the empty corridors when she chanced upon the private conversation, and it immediately made her slightly feminist blood boil within her veins. It was things such as that—among the blatant repression and suffocating exactness of the school—that ultimately sealed her decision to leave the expensive Preparatory for good.

Gazing about the compartment idly, she felt a small smile tugging at her lips, for the mere freedom of being able to wear the denim shorts and plain white shirt she was currently clad in was almost anarchy in comparison.

_How the ruddy hell did I withstand six years of that? Merlin, if I was there right now…_

She knew that precisely five minutes ago—had she not strategically switched schools—she would have been forced to board one of the white and golden chariots characteristic of Andromeda's, steered about by a trio of winged stallions, accompanied by five or so obnoxious classmates who's last names happened to fall nearest to hers in the alphabet.

She grimaced yet again at the gut-wrenching memory of being within a five-foot radius of Emelyne "listen-to-the-horrifyingly-graphic-details-of-my-summer-sex-scandals" Whittaker—conveniently referred to by Greta as the walking, talking, but just short of thinking STD—for six grueling years.

She outwardly shuddered at the idea of being in one of the stiff, white leather seats of the stuffy chariots with Emelyne right now, knowing without question that she'd be launched into one of her many nauseating tales that had all but Samantha entranced.

_Merlin, if she was here now I'd throw myself out the bloody window,_ Samantha thought morbidly, mentally weighing the preservation of her sanity over the value of her life. _Then again, she'd probably be too busy throwing herself at unsuspecting blokes to get into one of her infamous sex discussions. _

Samantha's features contorted with disgust at the vivid idea of Emelyne's petite, amply-curved body perched like a lapdog on some boy, performing actions Samantha had only heard about in her stories.

_Blimey, she'd have a ruddy field day with this Sirius prick_, she thought with a sour grimace, instinctively glancing upward at Sirius with a frigid scowl spreading across her face.

His churning pools of charcoal grey seemed hazy and unfocused as they stared blankly out the window, granting him the hollow look of a person who was looking but not actually seeing. The very corners of his lips were tugging downward slightly, bending them into a dark frown that his furrowed brow deepened.

Something obviously seemed to be greatly troubling him—though Samantha ultimately had no idea what. _My God, if that stupid fight with Lily got to him that much, he ought to invest a good bit of time into anger management courses. _

But her questioning gaze lingered slightly longer than she'd intended, for at that precise moment, the handsome bloke tore his slightly glazed stare away from the window, his electric eyes instinctively meeting with Samantha's. The muddled barrage of emotions present in the sparkling pools of steely grey was enough to tell her that the trivial bickering present a few minutes ago was most definitely not the source of his troubled state.

In that transient moment where their eyes were locked, Samantha encountered a startling fusion of pain, resentment, and—though slightly less prevalent than the rest—a graceful shade of sadness that lingered beneath the angry surface. His stormy eyes told a stirring story of a troubled past, and Samantha was slightly taken aback by this.

_Perhaps there's more to this… well, person… than I originally thought… _

But no sooner had the thought crossed her reluctant mind that the annoyingly familiar mischievous glint returned to his eyes, obliterating all the spellbinding depth they had previously possessed. _Great, now the only thing missing is his stupid little—_

Sirius smirked.

_I stand corrected._

"See something you like, Miss White?" he inquired, cocking his head to the side intently with a dizzying amount of smugness dancing in his alluring eyes.

"If by like you mean utterly repulsed by, then yes—call it love," she retorted coolly, rolling her sea-colored eyes irritably as he clasped his hand to his heart dramatically, acting positively touched by the statement.

James snorted offhandedly, shaking his head derisively at the exchange before returning his rather bored-looking stare to the blurred landscape soaring by. He mindlessly began drumming his calloused fingers on the dulled edge of the window pane, creating an incessant tapping that finally wrenched Lily out of her silent reverie.

"Must you do that?" she snapped bitterly, vivid green eyes narrowing in James' direction.

"Why, does it annoy you?" he asked innocently, very much resembling a devious four-year old.

"Just a bit."

"Sincerely sorry, then," he said in an overdone tone of somberness, bowing his head down slightly in a dramatic show of gravity.

Lily simply rolled her eyes in response, irritably muttering something along the lines of 'whatever' as she promptly settled back in her seat.

A very brief moment or so later, a soft _thud_ began to sound repeatedly, growing louder with each subsequent second. Lily's vicious eyes snapped up quickly, narrowing into a glare as they landed on James. He was slowly tapping his foot on the floor absentmindedly—though the mischievous smirk fighting its way onto his lips made everyone severely doubt his innocence.

"Potter..." she growled warningly, vivid eyes flashing a frighteningly electric green. He simply grinned up at her unknowingly, though his hazel eyes were sparkling with badly shielded amusement.

"Something bothering you, Evans?"

"Besides your existence, you mean?" she countered bitterly, crossing her pale arms huffily.

"Ouch," Sirius commented mockingly.

"That hurts, Pippi, it really does."

"Pippi?" she repeated in angry perplexity, eyes flying back over to James.

"Pippi? As in Pippi Longstocking? Jesus, Evans, we've been over this," Sirius explained irritably as a torturous groan tumbled from Lily's lips.

"If either of you even _think_ of calling me Pippi one more time you can kiss any ideas of procreation goodbye," she warned heatedly, shaking her head with evident frustration.

"How would you know if we were thinking it?" James retaliated rather dimly, and Lily's eyes narrowed bitterly.

"It was a figure of speech, Potter."

"Oh—coz I was thinking it a second ago and as far as I know I can still have se—"

"_Thank you,_ for that enlightening tidbit, James," Samantha interjected quickly, her full lips twisted into a mixture of disgust and amusement.

A long moment of aggravated silence ensued before James spoke up again.

"Can we call you Longstocking?"

"BLOODY HELL, POTTER!"

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"I, for one, am starving to death," Sirius announced to the frankly uninterested inhabitants of the compartment, responding to the low, demanding growl sounding from his stomach.

"I, for one, don't care," Samantha responded sardonically, growing rather annoyed with Sirius' incessant comments about anything and everything he felt like bringing up—usually involving stating the obvious.

If there was one thing Samantha simply couldn't stand, it was when anyone pointed out something that was so blatantly obvious, it didn't even require brain cells to observe.

So when Sirius conveniently began narrating everyone's actions as if he was writing his own novel out of sheer boredom—formulating sentences such as 'Moony puts his book down and tells me to sod off while Prongs stares at Evans and two semi-fit girls walk by, I actually think I may have dated the one on the left, Kate something-or-other, an excellent snog... wait, maybe that was Kat_ie_…'—a lot of Samantha's carefully preserved patience had been squandered away.

Now she was just about at her wit's end, and Sirius was thoroughly enjoying it.

"You are quite the snippy little crumpet, aren't you?"

"_Crumpet?_" she repeated disbelievingly, her eyes narrowing with slight resentment as he smirked wickedly in confirmation. _Comparing me to food, how wonderfully demeaning…_ "If I'm a crumpet, you're a… I don't know—a radish."

His smirk crumpled into a look of confusion. "A radish? _Why_?"

"Because nobody likes radishes," she snapped quickly, crossing her arms irritably.

"Then how would that apply to me?"

He smirked darkly as she threw him a disgusted look, repulsed by his blatant arrogance. "So I suppose you consider yourself, what—chocolate cake?"

He shook his head dismissively, shrugging idly. "Probably just dessert in general, since no matter what flavor, everybody wants me."

Her eyes flashed with revulsion, contorting her features into a disgusted grimace, and he let out a snort of laughter at her expression. "Blimey, love, you make it too easy…"

"From 'crumpet' to 'love'—brilliant."

"All the food references were making me hungry," he responded casually, bringing his hand to his toned upper abdomen and rubbing it childishly. "Blimey, they'd better hurry that food trolley along, or I'm liable to eat Wormtail's arm."

Peter's gaze snapped over to Sirius in horror, clutching his arm to his chest protectively. "What?"

Remus snorted at his friend's expression of pure terror.

"Joke—noun: a witty statement that Peter should really try and catch onto quicker," James informed in a mocking drawl, making Lily's compassionate eyes glance up irritably.

"Stupidity—noun: the only thing that ever comes out of Potter's smarmy lips."

Sirius whistled lowly as he watched the exchange through glittering eyes, reclining back into his seat observantly. "Puppy Love—noun: James and Lily's incessant bickering."

"Heaven—noun: placing a permanent silencing charm over Sirius Black's constantly prattling mouth," Samantha snipped, raising a challenging brow coolly as Sirius' gaze slid over to hers.

"Bitchy—adjective: defining characteristic of a certain girl sitting across from me."

"Hex—verb: the act that certain bitchy girl is getting ready to commit."

"Wand—noun: object said girl doesn't even have out, completely discrediting her previous statement."

"Brain—noun: vital organ said boy obviously lacks, for if he had one he'd realize that my wand is sticking out of my pocket, maybe three millimeters away from my hand."

Sirius' gaze flitted questioningly to her pocket, where the smooth surface of her wooden wand glimmered in the light, indeed poking out of her pocket. He rolled his eyes crossly as she sent him a smug, victorious smirk.

"Samantha White—noun: see _cynical brat_."

"Sirius Black—adjective: see _arrogant, insufferable_—"

"Bloody mental—adjective: see this stupid argument!" Remus finally interjected exasperatedly as his amber gaze swept between Sirius and Samantha, rolling his eyes at the bickering pair.

"Yeah—it got old fast, mate," James remarked with a slightly bored air.

"You're the one who went all dictionary-happy in the first place," Sirius responded indignantly, and the two teenage boys promptly fell into a rather pointless argument that Samantha couldn't help but find slightly amusing.

"It terrifies me to think that sane people actually admire them," Lily's wry voice commented, eyeing the bickering pair with raised eyebrows.

Samantha snorted in amused agreement, sharing a satisfied smirk with Lily as their eyes met in a friendly, understanding sort of gaze. _This girl doesn't seem half-bad…_

After a few minutes, Sirius and James seemed to grow bored with their petty quarrel, both falling into a lazy, defeated silence.

Needless to say, it didn't last very long.

"James Potter!"

At the sound of the shrill, rather angry sounding screech, James' cheeks instantly drained of any semblance of color, his hazel eyes widening slightly into what seemed to be steadily growing horror.

"Bloody hell, how did she find me?"

"I dunno—just hide. Quick!"

"Under the cloak, mate. Hurry!"

"It's all the way in my trunk!"

"You can't hide, Jamie!" the same melodic voice rang through the corridor, bouncing off the walls ominously and adopting a terror-movie effect that made James' pale cheeks almost translucent.

"I don't understand how she figured it ou—"

"Shut up, honestly! She'll hear yo—"

The door immediately slid open, slamming against the wall rather violently in series of loud bangs and crashes, finally clattering to a standstill after a few stilted seconds.

Samantha slowly ripped her eyes away from the commotion of the door, letting them apprehensively wind their way over to the powerful figure standing in the doorway, mentally preparing herself for a vision of terror…

An uncontrollable snort of pure hilarity twisted itself from her throat.

In the center of the entrance stood possibly the tiniest, most harmless looking little girl she'd ever laid eyes on – bows, frills, and pale rose lace drowned her entire frame. Her head was covered in a sea of blonde, silky curls, falling innocently across her angelic face and porcelain shoulders. She couldn't possibly be a day over twelve.

Samantha's gaze flickered back to James' ghostly expression, and another snort of laughter wrenched its way out of her nose.

"What are _you_ laughing at, Barbie?" a tough, rather high voice jabbed, and it took Samantha a moment to register that it had come from the tiny girl herself.

Her eyebrows rose slightly, not expecting such edge in the young girl's voice. "Excuse me?"

The girl sneered, rolling her insolent blue eyes slowly before sending James and Sirius a deliberate look. "Pretty and dumb – typical of you two."

Samantha's eyes widened in shock, not knowing whether to laugh or explode at the cheeky little girl before her. The juxtaposition of such a cookie-cutter, frilly blonde and the badass attitude she seemed to have was both infuriating and rather hilarious.

However, before she could even begin to retort, the girl snapped her malicious gaze away from Samantha, zeroing instead on James' now somewhat frustrated face. "I've gotta say, Jamie, your riddles are slipping – three minutes flat."

"No bloody way in hell! It took me two days just to come up with it!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair indignantly. "You must've gotten help!"

She shook her head with a smug, bratty smile, and for the first time Samantha noticed that her dress, lacey and pink as it may be, was covered in copious dirt stains and littered with tears. The bouncy bow in her silk curls was half-way undone and drooping, as if it had undergone various attempts to be removed, and her innocent eyes were full of mischief.

"Nope, I solved it all by myself! Either I'm getting smarter, or the past three riddles have gotten easier and easier," she chirped, though her tone had a stubborn toughness to it that made it anything but cute.

James shook his head disbelievingly as Sirius chuckled, patting his shoulder supportively. "S'okay, mate – last year's riddle took her a good ten min—"

"Eight and a half," she corrected with a satisfied snip, grinning mischievously.

Samantha frowned at the exchange, not exactly sure as to what was going on. "So what, you give her a riddle to solve every year or something?"

Remus began to respond, but the insolently high voice broke in maliciously. "Well done, pet – maybe now you can tell us all what color the sky is."

James choked back a laugh as Samantha's sharp gaze flew over to the irritating girl, face slipping into a slight scowl. _Who is this little monster anyway?_ "Do you make a habit out of interrupting people, or is it just one of your many endearing qualities?"

The girl's face twisted into a sour look of dislike. "Blimey, Sirius – I think I just heard one of your millisecond flings use a three syllable word."

Samantha's eyes widened somewhat in outrage, not at all amused by the demeaning implication. "What the bloody hell makes you think—"

"—I'm dating her?" Sirius interjected, his features laced with mild intrigue at the comment whereas hers displayed nothing but disapproval.

The devilish girl shrugged dismissively, glancing back over at Samantha with insufferably judgmental and patronizing eyes. "She fits the description quite well – vapid, dim, uncannily pretty."

Samantha's lips sprang open in angry defense, though Sirius' collected voice trekked right across hers. "How do you know she's not with James or Remus?"

"I'm not—" she attempted, only to be interrupted yet again.

"She's far too stupid for Remus, and far too pretty for James to even consider – he's too caught up with Red over there," the obnoxious girl responded with a casual gesture to Lily, making Samantha's eyes practically ignite with sapphire flames. "So the only logical choice would be—"

"_I'm not with anyone_!" she cried, face contorted with frustration and anger as the girl's snooty face veered in her direction. "I'm not stupid, I'm certainly not vapid, and I'm most certainly not dating the chauvinist git next to you!"

The cheeky blonde raised a pale brow, staring at her for a calculating moment before switching her gaze back to Sirius. "Well, this is new."

Sirius shrugged, dark eyes resting on Samantha with mild intrigue. "Yes, it most certainly is."

After a moment, the small blonde thrust out her hand forcefully. "Taylor Potter."

Samantha eyed it questioningly, still rather angry with the girl's obnoxious assumptions. "Good for you."

The girl merely stared at her for a moment before breaking out into a grin. "Oh, I like this one, Sirius!"

Sirius continued watching the exchange between the two curiously, intrigued by how their personalities would interact. Taylor, James' twelve-year-old cousin, was known for being a rather forward, obnoxious firecracker, though all of the Marauders had a soft spot for her spunk.

She was tough and respected for her attitude, and she was known for giving other girls—mainly any of James' or Sirius' girlfriends—a hard time. Lily absolutely detested the girl, for she was constantly hounded for her feminine grace and lack of daring.

This, however, he'd never gotten a chance to see – how she would treat someone who was rather similar to her. He leaned back in his seat and rested his head on his arms, thoroughly amused.

"Wait, so you're really not here to try and snog one of these goons?" Taylor queried, blue eyes skeptical and arms crossed.

"_What?_ I just met them a few hours ago!"

"That never stopped the rest," Taylor snipped, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at Lily, "except that one, that is – prissy cow."

"Listen here, you ruddy dwarf—"

"That the best you've got, Red?"

"ARGH! You are so infuriating, it's no wonder you're related to _him_!"

Sirius' lips curled into a smirk as he observed the predictable quarrel between Taylor and Lily ensue, always marked by Lily growing increasingly flustered and tying the blame back to James.

"Oy, I'm not even in this – but by all means, continue," James said, motioning for the fight to continue, his eyes never straying from the pretty redhead.

"No, I'm done arguing with a bloody nine-year-old!" Lily huffed as she crossed her arms, ignoring Taylor's scoff about being twelve.

"I have a twelve-year-old sister," Samantha commented, and Sirius switched his gaze back to hers and smirked at the dislike swirling about her eyes. "She's rude and obnoxious, too – I guess it's an age thing."

Taylor's upper lip curled into a sneer at the words. "Who're you calling rude and obnoxious?"

Samantha's eyes rolled at the stupidity of the question. "You, obviously."

Taylor smirked deviously. "Well, you don't even know the half of it."

"Sounds promising."

Taylor merely grinned with devilish intent, eyes shining with deviance as Samantha raised a suspicious brow.

"Taylor, I'd like you to meet Samantha White," Sirius finally introduced, making Samantha's sapphire gaze flit over to his irritably.

"I'm perfectly capable of introducing myself, thanks," she snapped, making Sirius shrug innocently.

"Just speeding up the process a bit, love." He grinned as she predictably rolled her eyes.

"Blimey – quit with the 'love' thing, yeah? I'm no one's love, least of all yours," she asserted somewhat coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Where did he find this one?" Taylor asked James with mild awe, switching her stare between Samantha and Sirius with thoroughly surprised eyes.

"She's a transfer, doesn't really know the way things work," James responded casually, eyes still lingering on Lily's stony face.

"No wonder – hasn't filled a single Marauder-girlfriend requirement yet," she mused, watching the pair continue to bicker over petty things with a growing smile. "I like her!"

Both Samantha and Sirius stopped and stared at the devilish little girl, surprised by her approving words. "What?"

The blonde simply shrugged. "I dunno, I just do." She hopped over to James and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, following suit with the other three Marauders before flouncing out of the compartment.

Samantha was the first to break the mild silence. "Um… you're cousin's really…"

"_Bloody obnoxious_! I am _Head Girl_, Potter – she can't continue talking to me like that, I deserve some respect!" Lily fumed, hands balled into tight fists at her sides.

James shrugged casually. "She'll get over it, she's just extra-protective when it comes to me."

"I'm not even _with_ you, you smarmy git!"

"Not _yet_…"

Sirius smirked at the unlikely pair, rolling his eyes at the complexity of their relationship. _I'm never going to get into one of those love-hate ordeals…_

The train had been steadily gaining speed throughout the journey, attempting to make up for lost time after a short series of rather unnecessary delays—most involving hair-brained pranks-gone-wrong.

"This train ride is taking obnoxiously long," James stated as Samantha blew a strand of hair out of her face, agreeing with the wordless gesture.

Lily shot him a rather miffed glance. "We would've been moving a good half-hour earlier if you and Sirius hadn't stuffed those third years into that broom closet on Platform seven."

"They weren't just _third_ years," Sirius muttered, "they were _Slytherin_ third years – they had it coming, right James?"

James nodded profusely in agreement. "Sure did."

Lily rolled her eyes. "What did they do, _look at you badly_?"

James' eyes darkened, expression livid. "They did it to you, too?"

Lily stared at him in silence for a moment, utterly disbelieving as she switched her gaze over to Samantha. "You see what I've had to put up with for the past six years?"

Samantha snorted in annoyance. "You think _that's_ bad? Try living with three hundred girls who have less going on in all of their heads combined than these two." She nodded at Sirius and James.

Sirius shrugged, smirking. "That doesn't sound bad at all, actually."

Samantha's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me, I believe I was talking to someone with a positive IQ."

Sirius scoffed rather arrogantly, pulling his arms up into a languid stretch. "I have one of the highest IQs in the London area, love."

"It's funny, I thought your colossal ego didn't leave room for petty things like a brain," Lily stated coolly, cheeks still slight red with flustered anger.

"Oh, don't even start with me, Evans. James and me are the only two people in this school with higher marks than you and you know it," Sirius responded with unbearable smugness.

"James and I are the only two people with higher marks," Samantha corrected automatically, used to the grammatically inclined ways of Andromeda's.

Sirius looked at her strangely. "No, you're not, James and _I_ are. I don't even know what kind of marks you get."

Remus snorted from behind his book, taking a moment to glance over its thick pages at Sirius. "She meant it grammar-wise you dolt."

This, if anything, only seemed to confuse the raven-haired bloke further. "What makes you think you're smarter than me in grammar? Besides, I meant higher marks in general, not just in one subject."

He scoffed at the look of disbelief etched onto Samantha's face, not catching onto the fact that she was marveling at his stupidity. "We don't even study grammar at Hogwarts."

Samantha slowly rolled her eyes, sighing with slight amusement as Lily shook her head and Remus let out a low, raspy chuckle.

"What's so funny?" James asked, utterly confused as Sirius shrugged tetchily in response. "What, you think we're daft – is that it, Moony?"

"How you got to be Head Boy, I will never for the life of me understand," Remus stated with a good-natured grin, and Lily snorted in derisive agreement.

However, within a moment or so, the grin faded away and her head shot up in sudden realization. "Heads! We're Heads!"

Everyone peered at her oddly.

"Potter! We're bloody Heads!"

James stared at her in slight bewilderment, sneaking a sideways glance toward Remus. "Bloody hell, she's snapped…"

"No, damnit, Potter! Head boy and Head Girl! We were supposed to meet the new Prefects at the front of the train forever ago!" She began bustling around frantically, hurriedly gathering a clipboard and a quill and rummaging through her trunk.

James, on the other hand, chuckled lowly as he realized her meaning, lazily checking his wristwatch without so much as moving from his position. "Relax, Evans, we're only a couple of minutes late, they won't care."

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. Lily stopped her anxious fumbling immediately, dropping the various trinkets in her hands and taking a rather threatening step closer to James.

By now, even Samantha knew that the only reason Lily would have to come closer to him was if pain on his behalf was involved. James recoiled slightly as Lily stooped closer, a fire blazing in her sharp green eyes that made her almost frightening.

"Won't care?" she said finally, her voice thick with suppressed anger. "Won't _care_!? Bloody hell, Potter – we're a team now! You do badly and it doesn't just reflect on you, it reflects on me, too! I've worked incredibly hard to get to where I am today, and the last thing I need is some lazy, reckless git ruining my last year by being the arrogant slacker that he is! We have a reputation to keep up, whether you like it or not – so could you please try not to be so disgustingly you-like and actually behave normally _for my bloody sake_!?"

Samantha blinked at the dainty redhead, thoroughly impressed. The girl was no princess by any means.

James finally nodded after a moment of silence, looking at Lily like a young boy looks at his mother when she finds out what really happened to her wedding ring. Samantha nearly choked out a strangled laugh at the sight, though she somehow managed to keep it in.

James eyed Lily warily as she stalked off, slamming the door of the compartment behind her with a resounding crack. He got up slowly, brushing off his robes carelessly thrown on robes and running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

Without a word, he slowly waltzed out of the deathly silent compartment – however, before leaving, he swiveled about to face everyone with a wicked grin. "I love it when she's angry."

Samantha lost it at this point, allowing all of her pent up laughter to explode from within her as she felt her torso grow weak. She rolled over onto her side as she continued to laugh, knowing Remus and Sirius must've thought she was barking mad, but she couldn't care less.

She leaned onto the wall for support, replaying the scene over and over in her head, finding it even funnier every time. To her surprise, she heard someone else's laughter fuse with hers, and she glanced up, breathless and teary-eyed, to see a blurred Sirius rolling on the floor, plagued with contagious laughter.

Instead of sobering her, it only made her laugh harder, and before long, even Remus was chuckling along. Peter giggled nervously, unsure of what was so funny, but then again, none of them really were. Things continued this way for a minute or so until Samantha's sides were aching resentfully, and with great effort, she settled her laughter into a smile.

She sighed shakily, still slightly out of breath. She finally straightened up somewhat and glanced around, only to meet the darkly alluring eyes of a certain raven-haired bloke. He seemed to have already ceased his laughter for some time now, having moved onto the pastime of staring at her.

Samantha stiffened a little, uncomfortable with the idea of being watched. "What?" she asked, incorporating a bit more edge than she'd originally meant to.

Sirius shrugged noncommittally, leaning back into his seat and crossing his arms. "Nothing."

Samantha narrowed her eyes disbelievingly. "Seriously."

Sirius grinned darkly at this, parting his lips to speak only to be cut off by Remus' dry voice. "Padfoot, if the next thing that comes out of your mouth has anything to do with your name, no dessert for a week."

Sirius immediately frowned, his eyes narrowing at the sandy-haired boy. "You know me too well."

Remus smiled. "Nah, you're just predictable, mate."

Sirius scoffed at this, mildly miffed. "I am not."

"Are too," Samantha immediately responded, almost by default.

"Am not!"

"See? I knew you would say that."

"Wh— that's cheating, it doesn't count," he declared.

"Oh really? And why not?" she queried, arching an eyebrow.

"Because I was simply following the rules."

"_Rules_? What rules?" Samantha asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"The 'Am not, Are too' war rules, of course," he exclaimed, looking slightly exasperated. "Blimey, and she claims to be smarter than me…"

Samantha's eyes blazed in confusion. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Remus muttered something similar to "Good Lord, here we go" under his breath, but Samantha didn't hear him.

Sirius sighed dramatically, pretending to be utterly annoyed – though Samantha could tell he reveled in her confusion. He looked at her solemnly before parting his lips to speak. "The following are the rules to the noble and ancient art of 'Am not, Are too' warfare."

He paused dramatically before continuing. "Rule one: When one is challenged in 'Am not, Are too' warfare, one must respond accordingly with either a defensive 'Am not' or an accusatory 'Are too'. Rule two: If one's opponent should challenge you once again, you may add an offensive word to the 'Am not' or 'Are too' should you accept the challenge. Rule Three: If one is on the defensive side of the war, otherwise known as the 'Am not' side, one is allowed to bend the rules twice, or else punishment will be given accordingly, dependent on the level of the offense. Rule four: If one is on the accusatory side of the war, otherwise known as the 'Are too' side, one is allowed to bend the rules once. See rule three for punishments. Rule fi—"

"That's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard in my entire life," Samantha interrupted, baffled by the stupidity of it all.

Sirius looked at her, completely aghast. _That stupid git's enjoying this…_"Samantha! I-I don't even know what to say!"

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Oh please, as if you didn't make that all up just now."

"The sad part's that he didn't," Remus said, shaking his head.

"I would've been honored to have come up with the rules to such a sacred tradition," Sirius declared grandly, continuing to look utterly appalled.

"I bet you would've," she said flatly.

"The audacity to claim that I was… _pretending_!"

"Oh, shut up already, will you?" she grumbled. Sirius continued to look horror-struck for a moment before letting his face relax into its usual disposition, an arrogant smirk. "Thank you – the melodramatic bit was getting rather old."

Sirius simply shrugged casually. Within a moment he'd resumed his previous occupation of staring at her. For no apparent reason. Again. "For Christ's sake, _what_?"

Sirius shook his head, laughing softly. "You are just too bloody easy to annoy."

She exhaled sharply. There was nothing pleasant about this arrogant prick messing with her for an entire train ride, and now with Lily – the only other sane one – gone, she really didn't know why she was still there.

"Well, I'm thrilled to have been your source of amusement _again_ for the time being," she snapped through clenched teeth, referring to the seatbelt incident on the platform, "but I think I'm going to go find a compartment that's prick-free."

She narrowed her eyes at Sirius, then turned and offered Remus a small, rather forced smile. "Nice meeting you, Remus, Peter."

Remus nodded, smiling apologetically, and Peter smiled weakly, seeming unsure of himself – shock. With a final disapproving glare at Sirius, Samantha stalked out of the compartment, accidentally slamming the door a little harder than absolutely necessary.

She smirked slightly, satisfied by the thunderous bang echoing through the empty foyer. She took a few steps down the carpeted corridor, wandering somewhat aimlessly as she thought of her next move.

The emptiness about her suddenly reminded her of why she'd been there in the first place – she had no idea where she was going. Plus, as she recalled, no one else had any room.

She sighed as she continued to meander through the deserted hallway, her slightly less prevalent optimistic side reminding her that at least she didn't have her stupid trunk blundering behind her. _The one good consequence of acting rash, accidentally leaving the blasted thing behind. _

She trudged on until a painstakingly loud burst of laughter forced its way into her ears, her ear drums pounding in protest. She winced at the shrill pitch, covering her ears protectively. "Now I know what a dog feels like when they blow those bloody dog whistles," she muttered.

To her surprise, she heard someone chuckle to her left, and she wheeled around to see a girl smiling in the compartment next to her. She looked about Samantha's age, with a tall, thin build and jet black hair cropped short to her chin.

She had bangs cut straight across her forehead that complemented her round face and almond-shaped eyes nicely, and at the moment she sported a welcoming smile that made Samantha feel slightly more at ease. "It always reminded me more of a dying hyena, but dog whistle fits just fine."

Samantha smiled at the comment, immediately taking a liking to the girl. "Jade Wu," the girl said as she extended her arm.

Samantha shook it cordially. "Samantha White." A look of recognition flickered in the girls maple eyes.

"Ah, so you're the newbie, eh?"

"That's me," Samantha replied with a shrug, and Jade eyed her curiously. Samantha began to chew her bottom lip, starting to feel uncomfortable again. She hated it when people stared at her.

"You don't seem nervous at all," Jade commented, more to herself more than anyone else.

Samantha frowned slightly. "Pardon?"

Jade smiled appreciatively. "Oh, nothing – it's just you don't seem nervous at all. New school, new friends, new teachers – it can be kind of intimidating."

Samantha shook her head somewhat ruefully. "Trust me, after the school I went to, any school seems heaven-sent."

Jade raised a curious brow. "Andromeda's?"

Samantha nodded, the sound of the name alone making her nose wrinkle with distaste. "Unfortunately."

"Is it really that bad? I've heard mixed reviews…"

"It's horrid."

Jade managed a sympathetic smile, scrunching her face up. "Bleh – well you're here now." She motioned to the compartment behind her with a lazy wave. "D'ya want to sit?"

Samantha brightened at the prospect of finally finding a compartment, this one not full of rowdy blokes with staring problems. It must've showed because Jade snorted, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Don't look too excited or I'll be tempted to take it back."

Samantha chuckled, knowing she must've resembled a six year old in a candy shop. "Sorry, but blimey, finding a compartment with some room was getting to be damn near ridiculous."

Jade smiled knowingly as she opened the door of the compartment further, inviting Samantha in. "I know what you mean, finding a place to sit was absolute hell back in first year. The first time on the Express always blows." Jade paused for a second, looking up contemplatively. "Come to think of it, it always blows… painfully boring and uneventful, and a ruddy waste of a day! Alas, at least you get the occasional new-comer to spice things up."

She flashed Samantha another congenial smile, which Samantha returned to the best of her ability, though she was a bit distracted. She had assumed that the congenial Asian girl was alone in the compartment, which seemed silly now that she thought back on it, but nonetheless she was surprised to see another girl within it.

She had honey brown locks flowing down to her shoulders, curling at rather odd angles around her thin, pale face. Her dark blue eyes were cast downward toward the magazine residing in her hands, seeming transfixed by the blurs of pink whizzing across the glossy pages. Samantha raised an inquiring eyebrow at Jade.

"Hey, Bridget?" The girl glanced up, looking irritated from being interrupted. "I'd like you to meet Samantha White, she's the new girl everyone was talking about earlier on the platform. Samantha, this is Bridget Street."

Samantha smiled half-heartedly, a little unnerved by the idea of people knowing of her before she'd even met them. "Hi."

The girl eyed Samantha contemplatively. "You're really pretty," she stated flatly.

"Uh…" Samantha responded, caught completely off-guard by the blunt comment. She almost laughed at how absurd it was – she knew she wasn't pretty by any means.

The girl, Bridget, turned her disinterested looking gaze over to Jade. "Has Julia seen her yet?"

Jade bit her lip, and for the first time since Samantha had met her she didn't seem to be completely at ease. "Don't think so… I'm a bit worried about that actually," she said, turning to face Samantha. Samantha stared back questioningly. "You see, Julia's a bit—"

"Did I hear my lovely name?" a girly voice sang from a few feet away, and Samantha turned to see a girl standing in the doorway. She had long blonde tresses running down to her waist, seeming almost white in contrast to her tanned complexion. Her hazel eyes were crinkled by the blindingly white smile plastered onto her heart-shaped face, the thick layer of lip gloss coating her mouth making the shine even less bearable.

Her tall frame was lost beneath of torrent of glitter and sequins, though the pink dress she was clad in was tight enough to flaunt a very thin waist and over-emphasized curves. She had her hands at her sides, one hip jutted out in a bit of a pose that some could take as being glamorous but Samantha found to be somewhat ridiculous.

"Bonjour, my darlings! I know you missed the wonderful moi over the summer, but poor me, I was stuck in Paris the whole time vacationing! We stayed at this darling little chateau I simply must have a get-together at sometime soon and—who is that?"

The girl eyed Samantha with a look of severe distaste, the blinding smile dissipating from her shiny lips. _Merlin, you'd think I was a bloody leper…_

Samantha looked back over at Jade, who mouthed the words "dying hyena" while trying to suppress a smile. Samantha bit back laughter as she turned to face the grimacing Barbie doll, finding the shrill laughter that she'd heard earlier to be perfectly worthy of its owner. "Hi, I'm Samantha. Samantha White."

The girl narrowed her eyes at Samantha disapprovingly, undoubtedly sizing her up. "So you're that new girl, then?" she spat rather rudely.

Samantha nodded, smiling. The girl was trying so hard to appear intimidating that it all ended up being counterproductive. Samantha found her to be, if anything, oddly amusing.

"Oh… well, I'm sure we're going to get along" she exclaimed with a forced smile, her fake cheeriness resurfacing.

Samantha nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, but of course!" she agreed, knowing her sarcasm would be caught by all but her.

The girl smiled yet again, cocking her head to the side and flipping her long blonde mane over her shoulder. "I'm Julia Lovelynn, by the way. And you are?"

Samantha peered at the girl for a second, unsure if she was joking or not, but she just blinked expectantly. "Samantha? Samantha White? I said that a couple of seconds ago…"

"Oh, that's right, you did, didn't you? Silly me…" she said with an incredibly fake, airy laugh. She stopped and after a moment fixed Samantha with an icy glare. "I guess you're just forgettable."

Samantha stiffened a bit, staring at her incredulously. "Or maybe you're just stupid."

Julia's olive-tinged eyes flashed in overblown rage as her lips sprang open. "Why, I… Never in my life have I… How dare you even—_AIIIEE_!" she burst into a shrill scream that rivaled her laughter from earlier, and Samantha winced in pain.

Julia spun around and swept out of the compartment in a huff, leaving a heavy silence in the air that wasn't penetrated for the next few seconds. Leave it to Samantha to finally break it.

"After hearing it a second time, I'm definitely going to have to go with the dying hyena."

Jade burst into a fit of giggles, laughing at the hilarity of the entire situation, while Bridget continued to read her magazine, though this time with a small smirk on her expressionless face.

**Author's Note:** _I'm not sure if I like this chapter, I feel like somethings off... please review with with whatever you liked or didn't, fav. quotes give me a good feel for what to continue with :-P Please and Spanks!_


	5. Good Ol' Simon and Garfunkel

**BLACK AND WHITE**

Good Ol' Simon and Garfunkel

"So what about you, Bridget – what's your story?" Samantha inquired as she fiddled with the wrapper of a particularly feisty chocolate frog. A few hours had passed since her rather comical encounter with Julia Lovelynn, and the three girls had covered a lot of passé let's-get-to-know-each-other ground.

At least, Samantha and Jade had while Bridget simply listened idly, a disinterested glaze coating her deep blue eyes.

Samantha had learned that Jade lead quite the life, her mother being the lead guitarist for the somewhat has-been yet famous nonetheless rock band—Magical Mayhem—while her muggle father was the Chinese Ambassador.

Jade herself was a highly radical thinker, both politically and artistically. She possessed the usual Asian intelligence that landed her a fair share of O's, but her true aptitude lay in her unique take on almost every aspect of life.

She was a true artist, speaking her mind vehemently on issues she was passionate about, much like Samantha, but she also understood the beauty of silence and reflection. This resulted in a very laid-back demeanor that was extremely refreshing to Samantha after years of exactitude at Andromeda's.

Jade also had a certain proclivity for drawing, as Samantha had gathered from the numerous sketches she had shown her. The extraordinary attention to detail present in her artwork showed that she was a very observant person, and this was mirrored by her attentiveness when listening to someone speak.

Samantha had noticed this within the first few minutes of meeting her, and had now concluded that she was very sensitive to human emotion, picking up the hidden sentiments in a person that many others could not. This was a unique quality about her that made her even more affable in Samantha's eyes, for everything she did seemed genuine. The two got along surprisingly well.

"Yes, pray tell, Street – any Hogwarts boys lighting your fire?" Jade asked with a wink, breaking off a piece of Samantha's chocolate frog and popping it into her mouth.

Samantha snorted, rolling her eyes at a merrily chewing Jade. "Lighting your fire? Did you really just say that?"

Jade glared playfully, balling a discarded wrapper in her fist and chucking it at Samantha. "Yes I did – you got a problem with that Ms. Be-Nice-Because-You-Have-Nowhere-Else-to-Sit?"

Samantha laughed as she ducked out of the way of the assailing wrapper, sticking her tongue out triumphantly at Jade after successfully dodging it only to be hit square in the face by another one. Her grin flattened into a scowl.

"Aha, not so cocky anymore, eh?" Jade goaded, laughing as she relaxed back into her seat victoriously, leaning her head back onto her folded arms.

"Smug little prat…" Samantha grumbled, though her repressed smile dissipated any possibility of any actual anger.

"James Potter."

Both Samantha and Jade glanced up questioningly, eyeing Bridget with frank confusion. "What?"

"You asked me who I wanted – James Potter," Bridget stated boredly, catching the inquiring pair off-guard.

If there was one thing Samantha had learned about Bridget within the two or so hours of knowing her, it was that she was blunt beyond belief.

Jade grinned suggestively as she sidled over to Bridget, nudging her lightly. "James Potter, hm? He's definitely a yum-cake, but—"

"Yum-cake?" Samantha echoed humorously, making Jade's eyes narrow pointedly.

"Yes, yum-cake – lay off my expressions, yeah?"

"Fine," Samantha responded, lifting her arms up in defeat and glancing down at the floor in submission, only to snort sardonically and shake her head. "Yum-cake… OI!"

She glanced up crossly as yet another chocolate frog wrapper, this time unopened and considerably heavier than the last, smacked right into her shoulder. "You are such a violent little wanker!"

Jade simply grinned cheekily, parting her lips to respond only to be interrupted by a sonorous, anger-ridden groan. All three of the girls glanced up in unison as the compartment door flew open, revealing none other than Lily Evans.

She looked a bit worse for wear – her red waves disheveled and her emerald eyes frustrated and steely. She stomped into the quiet compartment, hunkering down gruffly next to Jade and crossing her arms with a huff.

"Did a prefect light something on fire again?"

Lily scoffed at Jade's question, rolling her eyes. "No, but a Head Boy almost made me light myself on fire."

A smile spread across Samantha's lips as she realized she actually knew what they were talking about. After coming from such a horridly conformist school where only uppity snobs could gain any respect, she was pleased to have found two girls that she could not only stand, but found herself actually liking so quickly.

She had been pleasantly surprised when Jade had mentioned that she'd known Lily ever since first year, informing her that they had been extremely close ever since then. Hence, Samantha smiled amicably at the redhead before her, happy with the pair – though she knew Jade considerably better at the moment.

Lily's tetchy gaze snapped up and caught her smile, and she managed a somewhat forced smile of her own. "Glad to see you've found better company."

Samantha immediately scoffed, rolling her eyes in agreement – though Jade seemed a bit confused. "Better company?"

Lily scrunched up her nose, her face forming a sour expression. "Marauders." Samantha snorted internally at hearing this, barely able to contain her amusement. _They have a name for themselves – how not-so-adorably fourth grade of them._

Jade snorted knowingly as Bridget's head snapped up, a spark of interest enflaming her lifeless eyes for the first time since Samantha had met her. "You were sitting with the Marauders?"

Samantha nodded. "Unfortunately."

"And you _moved_?" she continued incredulously.

Samantha nodded again. "Fortunately."

"_Why_!?" she questioned fiercely, fixing Samantha with a look of accusatory alarm.

"Whoa – deep breaths, Bridge," Jade advised with a small smirk, placing a stilling hand on the blonde's heaving shoulder.

Her gaze briefly flitted over to Samantha, sympathetic smile playing on her lips. "Forgive her, she's always been rather obsessed with the Marauders."

Now it was Samantha's turn to quirk a brow, stare flying over to Bridget. "What – why?"

Jade's stare narrowed pointedly. "Do you have eyes?"

Samantha frowned, utterly confused by the question. "Obviously… but—"

"It seems that everyone but you and I see the Marauders as the 'Gods of Hogwarts', so to speak," Lily stated flatly, though the underlying bite to her crisp tone was practically tangible.

"Yes, so I've gathered – but _why_—" Samantha attempted, only to be completely cut off by Bridget's rather frenzied exclamation.

"Because they might just be the fittest bloody things to walk this earth!"

Samantha blinked at the girl, utterly flabbergasted by her bipolar transition from taciturn to hyperactive. At this revelation, a snort of laughter couldn't help but travel through her nose – the girl's expression of horrified anger was just so priceless.

"What, you don't think so!?"

Samantha wrinkled her nose slightly at the question, not entirely sure of what to say. Of course she wasn't stupid, she knew attractive when she saw it – but it just wasn't such a mind-blowing thing, in all honesty.

Definitely not imperative enough to make her bloody worship anyone. Nevertheless, she ran through the four of the boys in her head, thinking critically.

James Potter – most definitely a looker. He had a strong build and dark, tousled hair, and a thoroughly entertaining personality that made him seem like a worthy friend – though nothing about him made Samantha want to grovel at his feet.

Remus Lupin – sandy blonde hair, clever dark eyes full of wry wisdom; attractive by any means. Yet still, it was more the understated humor in his voice that made her take well to him – another potential friend.

Peter Pettigrew – a bit unlike his friends. He seemed awkward and unsure of himself, like he was constantly second-guessing his convictions. It was odd, to see him paired with such a loud, confident lot like his friends, but she didn't want to be too quick to judge. Looks-wise, however, he wasn't the greatest.

And last and most definitely _least_ – Sirius Black. Thick, silky black hair and stormy grey eyes; enough cocky arrogance to knock someone right off their feet and enough smarmy charm to make Samantha puke. Pity there were no brain cells to go with it.

She finally just shrugged, eyes somewhat steely from her last thought. "They're not bad."

"N-not _bad_?" Bridget echoed in slight horror, making Samantha wonder what brainwashing techniques the supposed "Marauders" must've been using on girls like her. Honestly, from an outsider's perspective, they really weren't that great – just handsome.

"Samantha, honestly – they are pretty fit," Jade admitted, ever the unaffected mediator, "I mean the hype is a bit overdone, but it's not completely without reason."

"I agree, some of them are pretty—"

"Insanely sexy?"

"Sure," Samantha agreed absently to Bridget's interruption, "but that's no reason to overlook their rather obnoxious tendencies."

"Obnoxious!?" Bridget squeaked, eyes wide with indignant horror – she looked about ready to wet herself with disbelief.

Lily nodded in irritated agreement, still sour from her Head's meeting. "Well said."

"I mean, James and Remus are alright, and Peter's a bit awkward but he seems agreeable," Samantha explained, to which Lily slowly stopped nodding and began shaking her head – it was actually kind of comical, for the transition involved a sort of circular motion.

"James Potter is not 'alright' – he's despicable."

"_Puppy love_," Jade rang out in a sing-song voice, making Lily's vibrant green eyes snap over to hers violently.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Samantha's gaze flew over to Bridget's hard, piercing stare, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the girl's intensity. Honestly, she was just about the blandest person a few minutes ago.

"What – you meant that arrogant toe-rag, Black?" she responded, lips curling into a smirk as Bridget's eyes widened with crazed shock. "Yeah – didn't mention him, thought you might develop a brain tumor."

Bridget's lips simply fumbled wordlessly in astonishment as Jade re-entered the conversation, eyeing Samantha curiously. "Obviously he's not your best friend, but you have to admit he's a looker."

"He's…" Samantha searched her mind for the correct word, trying to find one that wasn't too complimentary – he probably got enough of that already. "Adequate."

Jade snorted with obvious amusement, nudging Samantha with the edge of her foot. "Oh, come off it you stubborn hag – even Lily admits he's one fine piece of a—"

"_I did not say that_!"

Jade held up a hand to silence the indignant redhead, pretty smile breaking out across her face. "Oh, sorry, let me Lily-fy it. 'That Black fellow is a rather dashing young man – simply dapper, don't you think?' How's that, Prude?"

"I don't talk like that!" Lily exclaimed with slight resent, though the corners of her lips were twitching with amusement. "And I'm not a prude!"

"You're Captain Prude."

"Am not!"

"Are too…"

"Am not!"

"Are too—"

"Oy, stuff it – I had to endure a lecture on this sort of thing from Lily's 'dapper, dashing young man' a few hours ago," Samantha interjected, shaking her head at the memory of Sirius' "Am Not, Are Too war rules" and how ridiculous they had been.

Lily sent a half-hearted glare at Jade, to which the latter simply stuck out her tongue and grinned.

"Real mature, Wu."

"I try."

Samantha snorted, donning a small smile at the bickering pair of friends. They seemed so at ease with one another, as if they had nothing to hide or pretend about in each other's presence. Coming from a school like Andromeda's, Samantha couldn't boast the same fortune.

"Well, Miss Samantha," Jade addressed, veering her attention back to her, "you might get a bit of trouble from our resident heartbreaker if you don't watch out – he hasn't had a challenge in years."

Samantha raised a brow, already not liking the sound of this conversation. "What, you mean Black?"

Jade nodded, eyes mockingly rueful. "That's the one."

Samantha scoffed, shaking her head emphatically and waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Oh, no, trust me – guys like him steer far and clear of girls like me."

Jade quirked a brow. "And vice-versa?"

Samantha thought about this for a second. "Well, yeah – it goes both ways."

Jade's curious expression broke out into a knowing smirk. "Exactly."

Samantha's entire face crumpled with confusion. "What?"

"He hasn't had a girl steer clear of him since I don't even know when," she replied, leaning back into her seat and crossing her arms in a sort of satisfied manner.

"Oh, and what – just because I think he's a self-loving prat, he's going to fall madly in love with me?" she snorted, her entire face lined with sardonic humor.

"Maybe not _madly_," Jade commented, immediately chuckling at the stunned expression that flickered across Samantha's face. "_Kidding_ – but he might chase after you for a bit."

Samantha scrunched her face up, shaking her head in disagreement. "Maybe it works that way in theory, but I'm about as far from his type as possible – just ask that little demon James calls a cousin."

"Well…"

Both Jade and Samantha glanced over at Lily, who'd finally contributed to the conversation and was presently staring at Samantha rather critically. "Well, what?"

"It's just, he's really only selective about one thing in a girl," she explained slowly, still eyeing Samantha closely, "and that's looks – which you've most definitely got."

Samantha immediately snorted, finding this quite funny. "Oh, sure."

Lily raised a brow, seeming surprised by this reaction. "What, you don't think so?"

Samantha alternated her gaze between the two, not sure if they were kidding or not. She knew she wasn't hideous or ugly by any means, but _beautiful_ – not quite. Plain, perhaps; pleasant at best – but nowhere near pretty enough to make it one of her defining characteristics.

Back at Andromeda's, she was considered horrendously plain and unworthy of any special attention. Always surrounded by magically-enhanced snobs and dieting anorexics, she was the manly football player without any make-up. Her hair was inevitably straight, her body lightly toned and average – just plain.

The blokes back at Heathgrove's Institute for Exceptional Wizards always groaned when they were paired with her for the 'walk', for she was known as the feisty prude who 'wouldn't give any'. Yes, she had a lot of lovely titles back at her old school – how she adored it there.

Shaking her head crossly at the memory, she switched her focus back over to the present. "_First_ of all—what?"

Jade was looking at her with a pointed look of annoyance. "Please don't tell me you're one of those irritatingly beautiful people who whine about how horrendous they are just so more people will fawn over them – coz that's just annoying."

"_What_—no!" Samantha assured, horrified at the idea of being grouped into that disgusting category – it screamed of Andromeda's. "No, no, not at all, I just don't see how you ca—_why are you laughing!?_"

Jade's pointed frown had slowly given way to cheeky giggling at Samantha's feeble attempt to defend her pride, making her rather flustered. "I'm kidding – blimey, you like to freak out."

Lily too sported a small grin at Samantha's perplexed expression, chuckling lightly. "Really, Samantha – you seem like the last person on earth to do that, and I've gathered that within an hour of knowing you."

Samantha exhaled slowly, feeling some of the stiffness leave her body as relief flooded through her veins. "Bloody hell – I thought you were serious…"

Jade rolled her eyes, snorting at how relieved she sounded. "Course not – though you really are quite a looker. It's a bit unfair, actually."

Samantha felt some of the uncomfortable tension rise up in her body yet again, never one for taking compliments well. "No, honestly – I know I'm not, it's fine."

Lily scoffed slightly, beginning to chuckle at the raven-haired girl's mumbled response. "Of course you're not – everybody's been prattling about 'the fit new girl' coz your shoes are so captivating."

Samantha's brows furrowed in disbelief, opening her mouth to protest only to get interrupted by Jade's amused assertion. "Just let it go, Queen Hideous – you're an ogre, we get it."

"I didn't say that, I just—_whatever_, forget it…" Samantha grumbled, slightly disgruntled by the fact that they weren't hearing her out – they misinterpreted her meaning. She didn't consider herself hideous, but anyone with eyes would know she wasn't _beautiful_.

"Oy," Jade chided, prodding her lightly, "don't be such a grouch."

Samantha shrugged her off dismissively, annoyance etched onto her frowning face – the whole thing rather irked her, and now she was in a bit of a strop.

"Oh, c'mon – we were kidding," Lily said, her tone light yet still slightly apologetic.

"I know you were," Samantha grumbled in response, though her irritable mood wouldn't shake itself off quite that easily.

Jade sighed melodramatically, crossing her arms and staring at her pointedly. "Are we going to have to sing to you?"

Samantha shook her head dismissively, though the girl paid little heed as she threw a conspiring look at Lily. "Ready, Simon?'

Lily struggled not to laugh as she nodded assertively, bringing her fingers to her forehead in a salute. "Ready, Garfunkel."

Jade sucked in a deep, ominous breath, holding it in for a silent moment before bursting out in song. "You are my… _SUNSHINE_!" she belted at the top of her lungs, making Samantha jolt into the air a few yards and wince painfully.

"MY ONLY SUN_SHINE_!"

Samantha glared murderously at the cheeky wench of a friend before her, struggling with the grin fighting its way onto her lips as uncontrollable laughter consumed Lily.

"You make me _HAAAAAPPPPYYY_! WHEN SKIES ARE _GRRA-AA-A-AY_!" her horrid voice cracked multiple times as she held the terribly off-key note for far too long, making Samantha's stony expression crumple into peals of raucous laughter.

Lily – breathless and teary-eyed, doubled over into fits of merciless laughter as the oblivious Chinese girl continued. "You'll never know, _DE-EEAAAA-AAAA-AAARRR_!" she screeched horribly, making her pained audience scramble to protect their resentful ears.

"Sh-shu-t _UP_!" Lily managed to cry through her unwavering laughter, though this only motivated Jade to continue with the torture.

"Not until the Grinch over there forgives me," she chimed cheekily as she inclined her head toward a practically unconscious Samantha. "_HOOOOWWW MUUUCCHH_… I _LOOOOOVEEE_ you!"

"J-Just… never s-sing again… and I-I'll forgive y-you!" Samantha grinded out through her painful laughter, exhausted by her raucous giggling and the lack of oxygen it caused.

Jade eyed her for a lingering moment before straightening up, smiling triumphantly. "See – I knew that'd work."

Lily shook her head with a humor-ridden glare, lips curled into a smirk. "She can actually sing quite normally when she wants to."

Samantha snorted sardonically. "I find that hard to believe after that blood-curling performance."

Lily chuckled in agreement, bringing her hands together in mocking applause as Jade stood and took a graceful bow. "It's a gift, what can I say."

Samantha snorted and rolled her eyes, her too clapping half-heartedly at the cheeky girl. She parted her lips to retort when, all of a sudden, she felt entire body flying back into her seat roughly.

The train had lurched unexpectedly, and Jade had stumbled back and collapsed onto the floor, thrown off balance. "Blimey!"

Bridget, who up to this point might as well have died in all her uninterested silence, suddenly became alert, dull stare immediately sharpening as the train slowed to a halt.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Samantha asked sourly, rubbing a steadily forming bump on the back of her head.

Jade struggled to her feet with grumbling protest as Lily stared about suspiciously. "Dunno, but that ruddy hurt…"

Bridget impulsively rose from her seat, not even saying a word as she burst out of the compartment and wandered down the corridor in search of someone else – most likely Julia Lovelynn.

She left the door open, and the sounds of the slowly filling hallways filtered into their compartment. Various murmurs and shout of protest engulfed the tense air, piquing Samantha's curiosity.

"I'll bet you it's those bloody Slytherins!" the booming voice of James Potter trailed from a few compartments away, making Lily roll her eyes by default.

Samantha got to her feet quickly and scrambled over to the door, poking her head out into the hallway to hear snippets of other conversations.

"Maybe it's just a break down."

"First the half hour delay and now a break down!"

"I dunno, you guys, the Express has never broken down before…"

"I've heard of something like this happening on some muggle train in London. Got attacked by Death Eaters. Killed four or five muggles, I reckon."

Suddenly the lights flickered, and after a moment of uncertain wavering, they completely went out. A few shrieks pierced the dark hallway, and the shadows and dark figures of panicked students running along the corridor made Samantha feel inexplicably uneasy.

Something simply didn't feel right. She rapidly shut the door to the compartment, wheeling about to face the anxious expressions of Lily and Jade. "What's happening, you reckon?"

"Dunno – could be a break down," Lily stated evenly, though Samantha could see the subtle worry brewing in her green pools.

"No one seems to really know," Samantha observed quietly, cautiously approaching the foggy window. She gazed out of the thick glass and saw nothing out of the ordinary, though everything looked gray and dreary.

"Nothing looks too strange outside," she informed, but as she looked closer, she realized that something was most definitely off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something looked increasingly wrong with the landscape.

She peered at the tall, dark pine trees lining the edge of the stirring waters of the lake the train hovered over, and that's when she noticed it—the waters of the lake weren't stirring.

In fact, they weren't moving at all.

Nothing was.

An unnatural stillness lay upon the entire scene before her eyes, and it was extremely unnerving – like the calm before a virulent storm. Small waves and ripples in the water seemed to have frozen in place, trees were halted in mid-sway – she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Nothing was supposed to be that still.

"Oy, guys – come have a look at this," she called over her shoulder, not tearing her gaze away from the enrapturing scene before her. She paused for a moment, awaiting their response, but heard no answer. "Simon and Garfunkel – get over here and tell me this doesn't look unnaturally creepy."

Again no response, only the echo of her voice in the hollow silence. _Wait_, she thought. _Silence?_ A few moments ago havoc and chaos reigned over the halls, and every compartment was full of shrieks and bustling students. Now the only sound was that of her own voice, resounding through the dead, hollow quiet.

She turned around abruptly, her eyes instantly widening with overwhelming surprise and horror. "Oh, God…"

**Author's Note:** _Yeah, so this chapter was sort of pointless but I just wanted to develop everyone's character a litte, and I needed something to lead up to the next one so... yeah... deal with it... nicely... :o) Review - fav quotes rock my socks!_


End file.
